Kingdom Hearts III
by ShikamaruNara09
Summary: This is a Kingdom Hearts III story written in canon of KH, CoM, II, Days, and BbS w/ some parts of 3D. Couples: Sora & Kairi; Riku & Yuffie; Roxas & Naminé. Kingdom Hearts III takes place 2 years after KH II when Sora is 18 yrs old. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. Currently under hiatus and a massive rewrite.
1. Returning Home

**Chapter 1: Returning Home**

"Sora! Riku!" screams a young woman with shoulder length auburn hair and wearing a short pink dress as she tries to stretch out her fingers to reach towards her childhood best friends, Sora and Riku, but the portal of darkness that she traveled through is closing at a rapid rate. As the portal completely closes, Kairi turns her head and looks around at her current location. She realizes that she is on her home world, Destiny Islands, a world of tropical trees and islands. Her scanning eyes land upon three of Sora and Riku's friends: King Mickey Mouse, an anthropomorphic mouse; Donald Duck, an anthropomorphic duck; and Goofy Goof, an anthropomorphic dog.

"Kairi, what happened?" squeaks King Mickey, the ruler of Disney Castle, with concern in his voice.

"I don't know, but the portal just…it just closed…" Kairi answers with despair in her voice.

"Your Majesty, what should we do?" quacks Donald, the Magician of Disney Castle's Royal Court, to King Mickey.

"Gee guys, I don't know, we're going to have to figure out a way to get back to Sora and Riku because they're going to need help fighting against Xemnas," King Mickey says with worry and concern.

"Sora and Riku are tough, they can hold their own against Xemnas," Kairi says with determination.

"But how can we get there, Your Majesty? A-hyuck," Goofy, the Captain of Disney Castle's Royal Guard, asks.

"I can signal for a gummi ship," King Mickey says with determination. He summons his keyblade, the Kingdom Key D, in his hand. Kingdom Key D is a keyblade that has a gold blade and silver handle. He points it to the sky and shouts "Light!" A beam of light shoots up from the tip and lights the sky up.

"Your Majesty, I'm ready to help Sora and Riku," Kairi says with determination. She stretches out her right hand and summons the flowery keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, that she got earlier from Riku to fight with on the World That Never Was. She twirls Destiny's Embrace around in her hand and she looks to the sky.

"Yeah, we're ready to help too," Donald quacks as he summons his staff, Save the Queen. Save the Queen is a staff with a purple handle with a golden heart for the end. He sets it over his shoulder and looks to the sky.

"A-hyuck, yes, we are," Goofy says as he summons his shield, Save the King. Save the King is a blue heart-shaped shield.

The four of them wait with high anxiety as they prepare for the gummi ship to arrive so that they can leave and help their friends fight their biggest foe.

"Look!" Kairi exclaims in surprise as two shooting stars come falling down from the sky and into the ocean close to the shore of Destiny Islands.

All four are so surprised from the sudden appearance of the two shooting stars that their perspective weapons disappear.

The two shooting stars that hit the ocean are two boys. One of the boys has brown spiky hair and is wearing a black and silver outfit. The other of the boys has long silver hair and is wearing a white shirt and blue pants.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi exclaims as she realizes that the two shooting stars aren't just any boys, but her best friends.

Sora and Riku see Kairi waving at them from ashore and swim towards her. As they get in water they could stand in, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey run past Kairi and into the water, surprising the boys.

Goofy and Donald jump on Sora and knock him back into the water. Sora sits up as Goofy hugs him and Donald wipes his eye. King Mickey runs to Riku, who picks him up and spins him around. As Donald and Goofy hug Sora, they look at King Mickey and Riku, who are also hugging. Kairi giggles and smiles at the five friends. Sora takes out Kairi's star-shaped lucky charm that she lent him near the end of his first journey from his pocket. He looks up and suddenly Roxas, his blonde haired nobody, is him. Kairi feels that she is Naminé, her blonde haired nobody and smiles back at Roxas. Sora and Kairi feel like themselves instantaneously after they are temporarily possessed by their nobodies.

"W-We're back," Sora clears his eyes with the back of his fingerless gloved hand and says with a smile.

"You're home," Kairi holds out her hand and says with a returning smile and tears of joy coming down her face.

Sora grabs her hand with his as they both cup their hands around the lucky charm. Sora stands up and looks down at Kairi as he lets go of Kairi's good luck charm as he has returned it to her, its' rightful owner. Kairi pockets her good luck charm.

"I promised to return it to you," Sora grins.

"Yes, you did," Kairi says as she stares deeply into Sora's eyes.

Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and King Mickey walk ashore and King Mickey notices an anthropomorphic cricket is sitting in the hood of Sora's shirt. "Jiminy Cricket?" King Mickey clarifies.

Jiminy Cricket, the Royal Chronicler of Sora, Donald, and Goofy's adventures, hops out of Sora's hood and onto his shoulder.

"This has been one great adventure, Your Majesty, and I have a lot of things to tell you about what's happened ever since that fateful day that I wound up at your castle," Jiminy says with eagerness to Mickey.

"I am excited to hear about it," Mickey says with a smile.

"I am interested in hearing what happened too," Riku says.

"We'll help you, Jiminy, with telling them what happened in the first journey," Goofy says as Donald nods his head.

"Yup, we sure will," Donald says.

Sora is about to offer to help them when Kairi interrupts his chain of thought, "There's something I want to show you Sora. Do you mind coming with me to the Secret Place." The Secret Place is a cave on the island that Sora, Kairi, and Riku used to play and draw in when they were kids.

"Uh, sure," Sora says with a bit of confusion. He turns to the others and says casually, "Kairi and I are going to talk about something else. But we'll back in a few minutes." He reaches for Kairi's hand and grabs it.

Sora and Kairi walk to the cave's entrance, hand in hand, and Kairi gestures for Sora to go in. Sora ducks his head and enters the cave. Inside the cave, the walls have drawings that were clearly made by young children by using rocks to scrap them. One picture catches Sora's eye the most, it was one of the oldest pictures. The picture was of Sora and Kairi, when they were little they drew each other. The picture had two new additions to it in which it depicts that Sora and Kairi are giving each other a paopu fruit. The paopu fruit is a yellow star shaped delicacy on the world of Destiny Islands. He drew himself giving a paopu fruit to Kairi in the picture shortly before his first journey. Sora lightly brushes his fingers along the part that show's Kairi giving him a paopu fruit.

"I saw your addition to the drawing shortly after you closed Kingdom Hearts and I was returned home," Kairi says as she enters the cave.

"Kairi…" Sora says in awe.

"Sora, you and Riku have been my best friends since I first came to the islands. I have been having more feelings for you as each day goes by. Every time I needed you there, you always were there for me. You have fought Heartless, Nobodies, and the Organization to find me and protect me. Sora, I realized something that day that I first returned home, I don't want to live without you in my life. I love you," Kairi utters those three words with a whisper, but she knows that Sora was listening to every word she said.

Sora is taken aback by this revelation and doesn't say anything. The silence from Sora starts to make Kairi feel that she made a mistake and starts to tear up and turns to leave the cave. Kairi is stopped when Sora wraps his arms around her waist and whispers into her hair and back of her neck, "Please don't leave." He turns Kairi around and looks into her eyes with a soft look and continues, "I'm sorry for making you think that I don't return your feelings. I was just taken by surprise by hearing you say something I've only dreamed about hearing. I care about you greatly. You are my light, Kairi. I love you," Sora whispers the last three words as well, just for her and looks into her eyes.

The two share a lingering stare into each other's eyes. They feel drawn to each other, as magnets are drawn to metal. They know the time is right and move their heads to the side and share a passionate kiss. That kiss has all the love that Sora and Kairi have for each other. Both of their hearts melt to this first kiss. Sora wraps his arms around Kairi's waist as she wraps her arms around his neck.

"I love you Sora," Kairi says with a smile with her arms still around his neck.

"I love you Kairi," Sora returns with his own smile with his arms still around her waist.

Suddenly a strong ocean breeze hits the island. The breeze is so strong that it blew one of the paopu of its tree. The yellow star-shaped fruit comes in flying into the cave. Sora reflexively moves Kairi's body into his as he outstretches one of his hands to catch the fruit. He catches the fruit and he and Kairi are taken aback by this sudden event.

"'_If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what_'," Sora quotes the legend the paopu fruit with awe.

Sora and Kairi look at each other for only a brief moment. Then they both grab onto the fruit.

"On the count of three," Sora says.

"Ok. One."

"Two."

"Three," they both say and at the same time they take a bite out of the paopu fruit. The magic from the fruit starts to pulse through Sora and Kairi's body. They are stronger and they are now bonded for all eternity to each other.

"I love you," Sora says as he wipes the juice off of his mouth.

"I love you too," Kairi says as she moves in to kiss Sora again.

The couple shares another kiss, but this time magic and power is transferred between them. They both share the same power. They get interrupted from their kiss when Riku calls for them.

"Sora, Kairi, the gummi ship has arrived and the others are leaving soon," Riku announces to the new couple.

Sora and Kairi look at each other with a quick look and rush to get to where their friends are. When they get out of the cave, they are hand in hand, and Riku looks at them, shakes his head and chuckles.

"Good to see you two are finally together," Riku says with a smile as he leans against the side of the entrance to the Secret Place.

"How did you know?" Sora asks with disbelief.

"You two have been falling for each other for years, it was just a matter of time," Riku says with a smile to his dense best friend.

"Your Majesty, sorry about that," Kairi apologizes with a massive red blush on her face to King Mickey, who is walking with Donald and Goofy to the entrance of the Secret Place. Jiminy is sitting on Goofy's shoulder.

"You guys are fine, but we're going to head back home now, but if you ever need a gummi ship to come find us, just create a beacon of light," Mickey states to his friends. He turns to Donald and Goofy and realizes, "Where's Pluto?" Mickey asks inquiring about his dog that entered the portal first to arrive on Destiny Islands.

"Bark bark," barks the yellow dog, Pluto, as he comes running from another part of the island and arrives to Mickey's location.

"Okay now that all of us are here, I bid you all farewell and I will see you later," Mickey says with a smile as he, Pluto, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy are teleported from the land to the ship.

Sora looks at the cockpit of the gummi ship and sees his two favorite gummi engineers, the chipmunks, Chip and Dale. He waves at his friends as they head back home. "It's good to be back at home," he says as he wraps one arm around Kairi's waist. Riku and Kairi join in on waving goodbye to the ship.

"Yeah," Riku says with a smirk.

"I wonder how long it'll be until we see them again," Kairi ponders.

"Not long, our friendships are something that will keep us united and bonded for a very long time," Sora says with a smile.

Meanwhile on the World That Never Was, a tall black cloaked figure arrives to the location where Sora and Riku defeated Xemnas. He looks at the location of the final battle and chuckles.

**Author's Note**: This is my first chapter for my version Kingdom Hearts III. But later on as the story truly begins, I will start using Jiminy Journal entries for characters at the end of each chapter once the main events start. For the next couple of chapters the story is going to be a giant prologue to the real story (similar to Roxas' story in Kingdom Hearts II). In the Chapter 2: The Message in a Bottle, Sora, Riku, and Kairi are adjusting back to living on Destiny Islands, when two weeks after returning, they receive a message from King Mickey. Read more to find out what that message is and more on who the mysterious man is. Thanks to Nf2752 for the tip with Sora's dialogue.


	2. The Message in a Bottle

**Chapter 2: The Message in a Bottle**

Two weeks have passed since Sora, Kairi, and Riku returned home to Destiny Islands from their fight with Xemnas. The three of them earlier in the day decided to go back to their island to just enjoy the day. Riku is relaxing on the paopu tree and Sora meets up with him as Riku is overlooking the water.

"Nothing's changed, huh?" Riku asks.

"Nope, nothing will," Sora says in an almost sage-like way.

"What a small world," Riku sighs.

"But part of one that's much bigger," Sora points out.

"Yeah," Riku agrees.

"Hey Riku...what do you it was-the door to the light?" Sora brings up suddenly in a question.

Riku points to Sora's heart and says, "This."

"This?" Sora asks as he touches his heart.

"Yeah. It's always closer than you think," Riku says with a sense of wisdom and knowing.

Sora smiles as he thinks of Kairi.

_Flashback: Two Weeks Ago_

"Sora…Did you forget that we've been gone for nearly two years…?" Riku asks in a worried tone.

"Oh boy…" Sora says with fear in his eyes and voice. "Our parents are going to murder us!" he exclaims with panic.

Kairi giggles at Sora and Riku as they are panicking.

"Kairi, how can you laugh at a time like this?" Sora asks with an expression of shock.

"Yeah," Riku agrees.

"You guys are keyblade warriors and you are scared of your parents," Kairi continues to giggle.

Sora is about to refute this argument but realizes that Kairi brings up a valid point. "You know, we probably could explain it to our parents and don't have to worry about it much further once they realize that we've been protecting the worlds from the forces of darkness," Sora says optimistically with a smile on his face.

"But how are we going to get back home? None of our boats are here," Riku says with a frown.

"Actually, we do have boats," Kairi says, "I was on the island when I left to find you guys."

"But can we all fit in one boat," Sora asks.

"We don't have to, both of your boats are still here," Kairi says and she heads to a wooden shack. "I put them in the shack when I returned the first journey and they are still in good shape."

"Wow, thanks Kairi," Sora says with a smile as he opens the door to the shack and sees two wooden row boats.

It takes the boys a few minutes to get both boats in the water. Kairi is in her boat as she waits for them to be ready to head home. Once the last boat gets into the water, the three of them start rowing to get back home. While they row, all three of them are laughing and telling stories and jokes all the way back home.

"So, you mean to tell me, that when you first met Mulan as Ping, you didn't realize that she was a she, and you thought that Ping was a boy." Riku laughs while shaking his head as they hit the main land.

"Hey, I thought she was a convincing boy!" Sora fumes as Kairi laughs at his expense, causing Sora to sweat drop.

"Sora, I've met Mulan, and I can tell you that there is no way she can be a convincing boy," Riku laughs.

"But Riku, this is Sora," Kairi teases.

"Kairi," Sora mockingly whines, "I thought you were supposed to be on my side." Sora ties his boat to the dock.

"Nope," Kairi giggles, "But I still love you." Kairi says as she pecks Sora with a kiss on his frowning face.

"At least I get that much," Sora jokes as he shrugs.

Riku laughs, but stops once all of the boats are done being tied to the docks. "Well, we're back home…" Riku says with small smile.

"Yeah…well, I guess this is where we'll go our separate ways for now," Sora smiles as they arrive to a fork in the road.

"Yup, I'll see you two later," Riku says as he heads down the right path and waves to them as he keeps walking forward.

"See ya Riku," Kairi waves with a smile on her face.

"Unless your folks kill you," Sora shouts with a laugh.

"It's not my folks I would worry about, Sora," Riku laughs.

Sora's eyes get all wide as he starts to shiver from fear. He grabs Kairi's hand and starts to run down the left path. Kairi is laughing the entire time they are running down the path. After going for half a mile, Sora and Kairi are outside a white two story house. He takes a set of deep breaths as he prepares to enter.

"Are you ready for this?" Kairi asks.

"Nope," and without another word, Sora opens the door to his house. He slowly and cautiously enters in the kitchen and there's no one there. Kairi follows Sora inside. Upon the door hitting the doorframe as it closes, movement is heard from the living room.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, but there is still no word from Sora, Riku, or Kairi," a female's voice is heard.

"Mom…" Sora plainly says out loud.

The woman, who owns the voice, enters in the kitchen, and sees Sora. She has long straight brown hair and looks at her son with wide eyes. "Sora?" she utters as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Yeah Mom, it's me," Sora says with a small smile and tears in his eyes.

Sora's mother rushes to give Sora a hug and doesn't even notice that Kairi is there with Sora. "Sora, when, where, what, how, why?" She rambles as she wants to know what's been going on with her son.

"Mom, I promise to tell you everything. But is Dad and Fuku home?" Sora asks in regards to his father and little sister.

"Oh yes, Fusha! Fuku!" Sora's mother exclaims to get her husband and daughter's attention.

"Yes dear," says a male's voice as its owner comes closer to the kitchen.

"Coming Mom," says a young girl's voice as she is coming down the stairs.

Sora's father and sister enter in the kitchen and looks at Sora with surprise. Sora got his spiky hair from his father, but his father has it cut short and a goatee with all of it being black. Sora's sister looks like her mom but with black hair.

"Uzu, is it Sora? Has our son come back?" Fushu asks with wide eyes as he places his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Yes, he's back!" Uzu says with a smile on her face.

"Sora! You're back!" Fuku exclaims as she gives her brother a hug around his waist. "Oh, hi Kairi!" she exclaims as she notices Kairi there.

"Hi everyone," Kairi says nervously as she waves at Sora's family and walks toward the group and takes Sora's hand.

"Are you and Kairi together?" Fuku bluntly asks as she turns to face Sora.

Sora's face goes red because of the blunt nature of his little sister, Kairi answers for Sora, "Yes, Sora and I are now dating."

"Really? Since when?" Fushu asks with wide eyes and disbelief directed to his son and a laugh.

"Since I got back to this world," Sora says.

"This world?" Uzu asks.

Sora and Kairi go on and explain what had happened to them and Riku over the last two years. Sora ends the story with him summoning his keyblade, Ultima Weapon. Ultima Weapon is a blue, white and gold keyblade with a sword as the base of the blade. "And this is a keyblade," Sora ends.

His family is dumbstruck from all of these revelations. Suddenly, Fushu ends the silence and says, "Sora, I am so proud of you and Riku. You two have protected the worlds time and time again." He embraces Sora in a hug, and shortly after, Sora's family and Kairi are in a giant group hug.

"Now, all you have to do is tell the mayor that you are dating his daughter," Uzu says as Sora pales at this sentence. Everyone laughs at Sora's expression and Sora joins in with the laughter.

_Flashback end_

Sora's train of thought is interrupted when Kairi exclaims, "Sora! Riku!" She is running to where they are with a glass bottle and a roll of parchment in it in her hand.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora asks as he sees his girlfriend.

"Look," She says as shows the bottle to him and Riku. All three of them can see the three circled black mouse-head shape stamp that could only be King Mickey's seal, on the parchment scroll.

"From the King?" Sora asks as he takes the bottle from her, dumps the message out, and the three read it.

'_Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi,_

_First, I would like to thank you all for your efforts that you took in protecting the worlds._

_Second, I would like to offer an extension to Sora and Riku to participate in the Mark of Mastery Exam to determine your worth as a keyblade master. Master Yen Sid and I will both proctor the exam for the two of you. Kairi, you are invited to attend the exam as well._

_Third, the three of you are to be honored in a ceremony to announce you as being the protectors of the worlds. You will be back in less than a week's time._

_Final, just remember what I said about sending a signal for a gummi ship. Donald and Goofy are standing by to pick you up._

_Sincerely,_

_King Mickey Mouse_

_Ruler of Disney Castle_'

"Let's go!" Sora says with a smile.

"Shouldn't we tell our families?" Kairi asks.

"We can have Donald and Goofy fly us over to tell them," Sora says as he summons his keyblade. He points it to the sky and yells, "Light!" A beacon of light strikes the sky from his keyblade. Less than a minute later, a gummi ship arrives to pick them up.

The mysterious man arrives in the Keyblade Graveyard where he sees a man in a black cloak. He bows before this man and says, "Master, I have assembled all of the forces you have requested for me. We are ready for your orders."

**Author's Note**: That is the end of the second chapter. I felt that it was a good idea to introduce solely Sora's family for this chapter because I didn't want to introduce a ton of characters. The reason why I chose for Sora to have a little sister is so that his parents still had someone to care for despite Sora being gone. All of their names are wind based Japanese words Fushu is 'Windmill', Uzu is 'Vortex', and Fuku is 'Blow (as in wind)'. In Chapter 3: The Mark of Mastery, Sora and Riku arrive at Disney Castle to take the Mark of Mastery Exam. Read more to find out more about what the mysterious man and his master are up to.


	3. The Mark of Mastery

**Chapter 3: The Mark of Mastery**

Sora, Kairi, and Riku were able to go back home and notify their families what is going on and how long they'll be gone for before boarding back onto the gummi ship. The gummi ship is heading out of Destiny Islands' atmosphere. As soon as Donald and Goofy got the ship out of the atmosphere, they warp speeded to the world of Disney Castle. They land it in the hangar bay of Disney Castle. As Sora, Kairi, and Riku get out of the ship and inside the hangar bay, King Mickey, Queen Minnie Mouse, and Master Yen Sid are ready to greet them.

"Sora, Riku, Kairi, it is so good to see you again," King Mickey says with a smile on his face. He gestures to Minnie and Yen Sid and introduces both of them to Kairi and Riku, "This is Queen Minnie, my wife, and this is Master Yen Sid, my old mentor on the ways of being a keyblade master."

"Your Majesties and Master Yen Sid, it is an absolute pleasure and honor for us to be here in your company and hospitality," Riku humbly says as he and Sora respectfully bow, and Kairi curtsies.

"It is a pleasure to meet you and Kairi. Mickey has told me so much about the two of you in his letters and since he's been back," Queen Minnie smiles.

"I am pleased to have finally met the two of you as well," Master Yen Sid says in his sagely voice. He directs his statement to Riku and says, "You and Sora have a lot to show me and the King."

"Yes Master Yen Sid, yes, we do," Sora addresses.

"We should make our way to the conference room," King Mickey says as the six of them, alongside Donald and Goofy head from the hangar bay and into the courtyard.

"This is a very beautiful courtyard," Kairi says in awe as she looks at the assortment of flower gardens.

"Thank you Kairi, I've planted them many years ago when Mickey and I first became the rulers of Disney Castle," Queen Minnie says with a hint of pride.

"You did a lovely job, Your Majesty," Kairi says with great appreciation for Queen Minnie's work on the gardens.

"Thank you," Queen Minnie says, clearly flattered by Kairi's compliment.

The eight continue to walk through the courtyard and enter into the castle. They go down a couple of hallways and arrive to an entrance to a conference room.

"This is where I'll take my absence, I wish for the both of you on your Exam," Queen Minnie says as she addresses her well wishes upon Sora.

"Donald, Goofy, please prepare the throne room for the Exams," King Mickey requests to his two oldest and best friends.

Donald and Goofy bow before to the King and the Master and head down another hallway.

King Mickey opens the conference room door and gestures for the rest to enter. Master Yen Sid enters into the room and takes a seat at the end of the conference table. Sora, Kairi, and Riku enter and sit together at the opposite end of the table. King Mickey enters the room, closes the door, and takes a seat next to Master Yen Sid.

"Sora, you and Riku are here to take the Mark of Mastery Exam to determine if you two are in fact worthy of the title of Keyblade Master. The Exam consists of you two showing myself and King Mickey what your skills, talents, and abilities are. You will show us swordsmanship, magical talent, agility, reflexes, strength, speed, and other abilities you wish to show us," Master Yen Sid says plainly. "I don't believe I have to ask if you have any questions, because I feel that you understand what it is that I ask of you two." Sora and Riku nod their heads in agreeing with what Master Yen Sid says. "The King and I will head to the throne room to finish preparations for the Exam, we will send either Donald or Goofy to summon you to participate," Master Yen Sid continues to say as he stands up and heads to leave the room.

When Master Yen Sid leaves the room, King Mickey says, "We believe in both you. We know that the two of you can do this." Without another word, King Mickey leaves the room with Master Yen Sid following him.

Sora, Kairi, and Riku sit in silence as the boys start to mentally plan and prepare themselves on what is to come and what they are going to do in response to the situation. After several minutes, Donald enters the conference room and states, "Riku, His Majesty and Master Yen Sid summon you to appear before them in the throne room."

"Good luck Riku," Kairi says as Riku gets up to leave.

Riku and Sora look at each other and Sora says, "See you on the other side." This causes Riku to smile because Sora is always optimistic, even in stressful situations. Riku and Donald leave the conference room.

Donald leads Riku to the throne room. "Sora's right," Donald says, interrupting Riku's thoughts. He continues, "You're going to be fine and you will both become Keyblade Masters." He smiles as he leads Sora down the hall.

"Thanks Donald," Riku says with appreciation for Donald's support.

"We're friends," Donald says with a smile as they stop outside the doors to the throne room, "And here we are. Good luck." Donald says as he opens the door and gestures for Riku to enter inside the throne room.

Riku walks into the throne room and sees King Mickey and Master Yen Sid standing in front of Mickey's throne. Riku bows then kneels before them and announces in a professional voice, "Your Majesty, Master Yen Sid, I, Riku, am wishing to participate in the Exam for the Mark of Mastery to determine whether or not I am worthy of being recognized as a Keyblade Master."

"Very well, Riku, you may proceed in showing us your abilities and powers," Master Yen Sid says with a gesture of his arm,

Without another word, Riku summons his keyblade, Way to Dawn, a straight demonic wing shaped blade with a dark angelic wing at the tip, and the handle being made of both a demonic wing and an angelic wing. He nods that he is ready to proceed as Master Yen Sid summons for targets to appear. The targets are giant orbs of light and Riku continues by showing of his fighting style, his talent with his special type of magic, dawn based powers, which is a fusion of light and dark, and his advantage of speed.

While Riku is taking his Exam, Sora and Kairi are sitting in the conference room together. Kairi is sitting on Sora's lap and resting her head on his shoulder. Sora has his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I want to make you a promise," Sora says, ending the silence.

"What do you mean?" Kairi asks, wondering where this idea came from.

"I want to make you a promise that I'm going to always be there for you whenever you need me and that I'm never going to let anything happen to you as long as there is air in my lungs," Sora swears with conviction.

"I know you will, but sometimes even you can't come and save me. I want, no I need, to learn how to fight with the keyblade," Kairi says, looking into Sora's eyes.

"You're right… So, I'm going to train you, I will get you to the level of a keyblade master," Sora proposes.

"To the level of a keyblade master, why?" Kairi asks.

"Whether I like it or not, I am a big target to the Heartless and Nobodies in the universe and because of that, so you are a target because they will use you to get to me. To top that off, you are also a target because you are a princess of heart, and enemies may try and use you to open Kingdom Hearts," Sora reminds her.

"Well, I guess I better start training as soon as possible then," Kairi jokes and giggles as she rests her head back on Sora's shoulder.

Sora is about to say something when Goofy enters in the room. "Sora, the King and Master Yen Sid are ready to see you now. A-hyuck, you two make a cute couple," Goofy says with a smile.

"Thanks Goofy," Sora grins. Kairi slides off his lap and kisses him for good luck. He leaves the room and follows Goofy to the throne room.

"How did Riku do?" Sora asks.

"They haven't decided anything yet, I think they want you to go and then they're going to have you both do something together as like a final test," Goofy says thoughtfully as he scratches his face.

"That's interesting. I'm ready for this Exam," Sora says getting himself pumped up for the Exam.

The two of them stop right outside of the throne room door and Goofy says, "I'm sure you're going to be great. Good luck, Sora."

Sora nods his appreciation and smiles. He takes a deep breath and opens the door to enter in the throne room. As he is walking to where King Mickey and Master Yen Sid are standing, he sees Riku leaning against the wall. The two boys make eye contact and Riku nods his good wishes to Sora, who nods back in gratitude. He stands before King Mickey and Master Yen Sid, bows, kneels, and says in a professional voice, "Your Majesty, Master Yen Sid, I, Sora, stand before you to take the Mark of Mastery Exam to see if I am worthy to be called a keyblade master."

"Alright Sora, you may proceed in showing us your abilities, skills, and talents," Yen Sid says.

As Sora is showing of his skills in battle, Kairi is in the conference room, and is trying to gather her thoughts about what Sora said about how both of them are targets. "He's right to want to train you to the level of a keyblade master," says a voice in Kairi's head.

"I agree with you, but it's just, do you think that there is going to be another war in our future, Naminé?" Kairi asks to her Nobody, out loud.

"I don't know, but I feel that Sora and Roxas feel that there will be," Naminé says.

"Roxas? How do you feel that Roxas feels that?" Kairi asks.

"We can communicate on a different frequency then you and Sora speak on and it's telepathically, that way you two get privacy and we also get privacy. That will be…very useful in the future," Naminé teases.

"That's good to know," Kairi says with relief that despite her and Naminé are in one body, they can still have two separate lives, but blushes with Naminé's last sentence about what the future entails for Sora and Kairi.

"Yeah, and actually, I think you can make it so I get projected outwardly, as an astral projection," Naminé suggests.

"Really? How can I do that?" Kairi eagerly asks.

"Just focus your thoughts on imagining that you are talking to me physically," Naminé suggests.

"Just focus my thoughts on imagining that I am talking to you physically," Kairi whispers. She pours all of her concentration into this effort. It fails to work. "Do you think there is another way to project you outward?" Kairi asks.

"Try doing the same thing as before, but say my name as well, that way it would be like a summoning spell," Naminé says.

"Okay," Kairi takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. She resumes her concentration and once she has focus, she says, "Naminé."

"Kairi," Naminé says, "It works."

Kairi opens her eyes and squeals happily as she sees her Nobody standing before her. Naminé looks the same as before she and Kairi were bonded, but isn't corporal. She is partially transparent, but to both girls they can clearly agree that this is better than nothing. "Can Sora and Roxas do the same?" Kairi asks.

"I don't know, but I assume that they can. We'd have to ask Sora to try it," Naminé says.

"Do you know how far away you can be from me and for how long you can exist as this form out of my body?" Kairi asks in regards to the limitations that Naminé has in her incorporeal form.

"As long as we are on the same world, I think I can exist outside of your body for as long as I want to unless you sleep, because your connection to me will be idle. Same with you being knocked out, just in case we are in a fight," Naminé says.

"Does it hurt you if you are forced back into being in my conscience?" Kairi asks with clear concern for Naminé's wellbeing with this form.

"No, because I am still in your mind, but it's just you created a projection for me to express myself through," Naminé says putting Kairi's worry at ease.

"I wish there was a way to make this permanent," Kairi says.

"Roxas and I do too, but we know that you and Sora want to help us living as separate beings, but this projection is better than nothing. Also, while in this form, Roxas and I will be able to do research on figuring out how to get our physical forms again, and with four of us, instead of just you two, we can get to a solution faster," Naminé says. She turns her head and says, "I sense someone is coming, so I'm going back into your mind." She releases her form and is back to being within Kairi's mind.

As Kairi and Naminé were having their conversation, back in the throne room, Sora finishes showing King Mickey and Master Yen Sid his best ability, the final drive form, in which he is in all white garbs and is levitating above the ground with two keyblades revolving around him. He releases his form and bows, saying, "That was the last of my abilities I had to show you."

"Well done Sora, well done," Master Yen Sid says, clearly impressed with Sora's growth and power. "Riku come back up here," he says addressing Riku to stand before him and King Mickey. "Now as a final test for the Mark of Mastery, we request that the two of you spar," Master Yen Sid says. "It doesn't matter who the winner is, but it matters how both of you fight and are able to keep the darkness in check." Sora and Riku look at each other, smirk, and summon their keyblades. "You may begin," Master Yen Sid says as Sora and Riku rush to do what they've been doing since they were children.

"Kairi, you are free to come to the throne room for the announcement on Master Yen Sid's decision of who is ready to become Keyblade Master," Donald says as he enters the conference room.

"Okay," Kairi says as she and Donald hurry to get to the throne room. She enters in the throne room and sees Sora and Riku panting, but smiling, as they stand before Master Yen Sid and King Mickey. She goes to Sora, who grins at her and stands up straight, and they take each other's hand. She looks at Riku, who is laughing at Sora's sudden composure for Kairi's sake. "Do I want to know why you two are both exhausted?" Kairi asks with a smirk on her face deducing what happened.

"Nope," Sora and Riku say unanimously at the same time. They look at each other with a serious face, but both burst into laughter. King Mickey has a sweat drop from watching the two young men, but can't help chuckling. Master Yen Sid is trying to keep his composure but is chuckling inwardly as much as possible.

"After talking with King Mickey, we have decided to name the both of you the title of Keyblade Masters," Master Yen Sid says in a very dignified manner. "Both of your abilities impressed me and the King greatly. We feel that when the Keyblade Masters are needed in the future that you two are worthy to answer the call for the sake of people of the worlds. From this day on you two, Sora and Riku, will be hereby known as Master Sora and Master Riku, Keyblade Masters."

"Alright!" Sora cheers with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid, Your Majesty," Riku bows and says with a smile on his face.

"Oh right," Sora realizes he forgot his manners, bows and says, "Yes, thank you, Master Yen Sid, Your Majesty." He blushes because of his embarrassment.

"Congratulations Sora," Kairi squeals as she kisses Sora. She runs and gives Riku a hug and says, "Congratulations to you too, Riku."

"Good going, Sora, and you too, Riku," Goofy says.

"Great job, Sora and Riku," Donald says jumping up and down.

"I am proud of you, Riku, and you too, Sora," King Mickey proudly says with a smile on his face.

As the congratulations for Sora and Riku continue for passing their Mark of Mastery Exam, a man in a black hooded cloak is waking up in the realm between worlds, also known as the Realm of Betwixt and Between. As he gets up, he says just one word.

"Roxas."

**Author's Note**: And that my friends, wraps up my third chapter. I felt that with Kairi having Naminé projecting from her body, that would allow for Roxas and Naminé to still be prevalent to the main storyline. I wanted Sora and Riku to both pass the Mark of Mastery Exam in this prologue because I want Kairi to be already be trained by Sora at the end of the time skip (which is going to be coming up soon). In Chapter 4: The Alliance of Two Worlds, Sora, Riku, and Kairi make their way back to Radiant Garden, where they are going be rewarded for what they've done to keep the side of light protected. You're going to see the starts of Riku and Yuffie's coupling. Also, there a few old characters being introduced into a new story. Read more to find out who these characters, as we move closer to the end of this prologue.


	4. The Alliance of Two Worlds

**Chapter 4: The Alliance of Two Worlds**

After staying the night after the Mark of Mastery Exam, Sora, Kairi, and Riku meet with King Mickey at the gummi hangar bay. The four are waiting for the rest of their caravan to head to Radiant Garden.

"Your Majesty, the gummi is ready for you to board," squeaks the higher pitched, black-nosed chipmunk, Chip.

"Thank you, Chip," King Mickey says as turns to the operation box and exclaims, "Please tell everyone to start boarding!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" shouts the lower pitched, red-nosed chipmunk, Dale. He announces over the loudspeaker, "All of the passengers that are leaving for Radiant Garden please start boarding the gummi ship in hangar one."

One by one, the gummi ship is boarded by the residents of Disney Castle to leave for Radiant Garden. Donald leads his three nephews: Huey, Dewey, and Louie, onboard the ship. Huey is wearing his trademark red sweater and baseball cap, Dewey, his blue sweater and cap, and Louie, his green sweater and cap. Daisy Duck, Donald's wife and Queen Minnie's hand maiden follows them on board. Goofy and two of his trainees get on the ship. One of the trainees looks remarkably like Goofy but younger and the other looks is an anthropomorphic cat and bears a resemblance to Pete, an old foe to the King. Master Yen Sid and Queen Minnie board together with Pluto, who has Jiminy riding on his back, following closely behind. Donald's uncle Scrooge McDuck and a tall anthropomorphic duck, who is wearing a pilot's jacket and cap with goggles, board the ship. Chip and Dale scurry in closely following the two ducks. Sora, Kairi, and Riku board the ship next. King Mickey gives a set of final orders to his enchanted broom servants on what to do in their stead at the castle. He finally boards and the ships door is closed automatically and announces to the pilot, who is the giant duck, "We're all boarded and wait for you to set off, Launchpad."

"Yes sir," salutes Launchpad McQuack. He enters the cockpit with Chip and Dale entering with him to serve as his copilots. "Attention, ladies and gents, please sit down and fasten your seatbelts as we are departing," he announces over the loudspeaker. With these words, everyone gets seated and buckle up prepping to leave. Immediately when everyone has made the necessary precautions the gummi ship blasts off and shoots straight out of Disney Castle's atmosphere. "We have left the atmosphere, you are free to roam around the cabin, so chat up with your fellow passengers," Launchpad jokes over the loudspeaker.

"Hey, Goofy, is this Max?" Sora asks Goofy in regards to the trainee that looks like Goofy.

"Yup, this is my son, Maxie," Goofy says with a proud smile on his face. This causes Max to feel a little embarrassed but pleased at the same time.

"Hi there, Max, I'm Sora," Sora says with a smile on his face as he shakes Max's hand. Goofy constantly talked about Max on their adventures. "It's good to finally see a face to the name."

"I'm Maximillian Goof and Goofy's son. Everyone calls me Max though. I'm one of Dad's in training members of the Royal Guard," Max says.

"Really? Do you use a shield like your dad?" Sora asks with interest.

"Kinda, I use a skateboard instead. That way I can use it as a shield and be mobile instantaneously," Max says as he pulls out his red and blue skateboard.

"Fighting with a skateboard is really hard. I'm impressed that someone can do it and I bet your dad is proud too," Sora says speaking out of personal experience with trying to use a skateboard to fight his enemies previously.

"Thanks," Max says, flattered by praise from the keyblade wielder his father has respected and fought side by side with for three years. "Oh, how rude of me, Sora, this is PJ, my best friend," Max says signaling the other trainee.

"Hi PJ, I'm Sora," Sora says shaking PJ's hand. "Forgive me for the question, but I can't help but ask, are you related to Pete?" Sora asks out of curiosity.

"Yeah…" PJ says disappointed, "he's my dad…"

"Oh wow…" Sora says and is struck speechless from this.

"But I don't believe what he is doing is right, I want to stop him from committing the crimes he's done against the worlds," PJ says with determination.

"That's good, I believe that maybe even you can make Pete see the error of his ways," Sora says with encouragement.

"Thanks Sora," PJ says with a renewed sense of courage.

"No problem, so what do you use to fight with?" Sora asks.

"Slingshot," PJ says as he pulls out his weapon, an old wooden slingshot with a worn but tough band.

"How good of a shot are you?" Sora asks.

"He's one of the best shots around," Max praises.

"Really?" Sora asks.

"I can hit a target up to two hundred yards accurately, even if they are moving," PJ admits with embarrassment as he is put in the spotlight.

"That's amazing, I hope you continue to improve," Sora says with a smile. Sora's attention is shifted to Donald's nephews. "Hey guys, I was surprised to see you guys back at Disney Castle," Sora says, catching their attention.

"We're training under Uncle Donald," Huey says with Dewey and Louie nodding in agreement.

"Really? To be mages?" Sora asks.

"Yup, he wants to establish a Royal Magi Corps, and we would be his first three recruits," Dewey says.

"That's cool, how much have you practiced?" Sora asks.

"Well, we each have a specialized magic set type," Louie says.

"I'm offensive magic, such as Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder," Huey says.

"I'm stalling magic, such as Magnet, Gravity, and Aero," Dewey says.

"And I'm defensive magic, such as Cure, Reflect, and Stop," Louie finishes.

"Whoa, that is amazing, so are you guys still on the first level?" Sora asks.

"Yes, but Uncle Donald says we're fast learners," Huey says. "We mastered the first level of all three spells in a week."

Sora is about to ask another question but is cut off by Launchpad's voice, "We are beginning our landing into Radiant Garden, please resume being in your seats as we start our descent."

The landing into Radiant Garden was a very smooth landing. Waiting for the group from Disney Castle are the members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. "Welcome to Radiant Garden, it is nice to see some of you again and to meet others for the first time," says the leader of the Restoration Committee, the stoic mannered, gunblade user, Squall Leonhart, or Leon to everyone that meets him.

"It is good to see you again Leon," Sora says on behalf of the Disney Castle group. He scans the group and addresses each of the members, "And to see you all, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Cid, Yuffie, and Merlin."

"I'm glad you have finally gotten your light," the former SOLDIER with his buster blade, Cloud Strife states bluntly upon looking at Sora and Kairi holding hands. This causes the young couple to blush.

"It's good to see you Sora," the large breasted, but tough, Tifa Lockhart says with a smile on her face.

"We're glad for you all to be here," the quiet and reserved, Aerith Gainsborough says as she claps her hand together.

"Yeah, it's good to see ya little shit," the foul mouthed and chain smoking, Cid Highwind jokes as he pulls out a cigarette to smoke.

"Yuh huh, it is good to see you Sora," exclaims the hyper ninja Yuffie Kisaragi. She looks at Riku and goes up to him and examines him closely, "Aaaaaand you're really cute," she says in such a straightforward manner that causes Riku to blush and turn red in face severely. This makes Yuffie giggle and she decides to stand next to Riku.

"Well, well, Sora, it is wonderful to see how much you've grown," the wise wizard, Merlin says with a smile. He suddenly realizes that he almost forgot to say something, "Oh, and before I forget, I have some people that want you to see them right away." He turns to the street and shouts, "Ladies, you can come out now!"

Three women walk towards Sora and it causes Sora's jaw to drop, not because they are women, but because of whom they are. "The Gullwings! Are human!" he exclaims with shock. Right in front of Sora, the three former pixies, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine are standing as humans. "But how?" Sora utters with shock.

"Merlin's magic," the serious gothic styled Paine bluntly states.

"He made us human by our request," the skirt wearing leader of the Gullwings, Yuna, explains.

"Do you like it?" the hyper bikini wearing Rikku asks with a big smile.

"It's great to see you three again," Sora says with a smile on his face.

"They aren't the only ones that you will be surprised to see them," Leon says with a dry sense of humor. "But first, the new head of Radiant Garden's reformed government would like to meet you, Your Majesty," Leon directs this statement to King Mickey.

"Of course," Mickey says as he nods.

"Yes, and he also would like to see Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Master Yen Sid," Leon continues to say.

"We're ready to meet him," Master Yen Sid says.

Leon nods his head and says, "Follow me," and heads into the town with the large group of both the Radiant Garden and Disney Castle groups. The former castle of Ansem the Wise is visible to the party after traveling up the mountain pass. In front of the building a man, a woman, and a dog are standing, waiting for the group to arrive. Leon greets the man with a handshake and kisses the woman on her lips. He turns back to the large group and introduces the group to the man and woman. "This is Laguna Loire. He was my mentor and new leader of Radiant Garden's reestablished government."

"Hello there, it is a pleasure to meet you all," says the educated Laguna to Leon's friends and allies.

"And this is Rinoa Heartilly, the love of my life, and this is her dog, Sant Angelo," Leon says with a smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you all," the sweet Rinoa says with a warm smile on her face.

"Bark!" barks Sant Angelo.

Everyone starts laughing when Pluto and Sant Angelo start sniffing each other and spin around each other. Mickey goes on to introduce all of his comrades to Laguna and Rinoa. "And this is Masters Sora and Riku, Princess Kairi, and I am King Mickey Mouse, Ruler of Disney Castle," concludes Mickey with the introduction of everyone in his group.

"It is indeed a pleasure to meet you all," Laguna says with great praise for the group, "Especially you, King Mickey, and of course, Sora, Riku, and Kairi," looking at the four keyblade wielders. He leads the massive group inside the compound. The compound changed dramatically since Sora was last there, there is no rubble and there are a lot more rooms that can be accessed. "Ever since we reclaimed the world as Radiant Garden, we're been working very hard restoring this castle," Laguna says as he notices Sora's eyes are scanning the cleaned up compound. "We've even developed a recovery ward for those in need of medical help," Laguna continues as they enter inside the medical ward.

"Auron!?" exclaim Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as they see their Underworld friend and ally.

"What is it kid?" Auron asks in his gruff voice.

"How did you escape from the Underworld?" Sora demands as he is trying to get over the shock of seeing someone who was considered dead is able to leave the World of the Dead, especially one that is ran by Hades.

"I helped him escape," says someone who has spiky black hair and a military outfit on. "I'm Zack by the way," he greets.

"That's Zack Fair, he was one of Hades earlier victims. He actually helped me escape from my deal with Hades," Clouds says as he walks past Sora and up to Zack. Cloud introduces who everyone is in the big group to Zack and Auron.

"Well, now that all of the introduced, I believe we should take up rest, for tomorrow is going to be the Ceremony for the Heroes of Light," Laguna claps his hands and says to the entire group.

As everyone is going to bed on Radiant Garden there is a darkness massing on a dark world. Within this dark world, there is a large circular room, paralleling the one that was in the World That Never Was, with thirteen seats and all. All of the seats except three of them are filled with men wearing the black hooded cloaks. The leader of the group, called the Master to his subordinates, directs his comment to the traveling mysterious man, who is seated to his immediate left, "I need for you to go to the Dark Abyss and there you will collect the last three of our Thirteen."

"Yes Master, do you know who they are?" the mysterious man asks.

"No, but they are three familiar and powerful forces, but they are pulsing with darkness," the Master states, "Tell them that we plan to destroy the worlds of light and that we will be assembling our forces for the next two years."

**Author's Note**: And so ends, Chapter 4, with the introductions of Max, PJ, and Launchpad from Disney's Goof Troop and Duck Tales, and Laguna, Rinoa, and Sant Angelo from Final Fantasy VIII, we get to see more characters that will be able to play a bigger role in the future. The Gullwings being human and Auron being at Radiant Garden are both related to what transpires in the future. Also, at the end this chapter, we see the emergence of a new Organization XIII. In Chapter 5: The Ceremony of Heroes, we will see more Riku & Yuffie, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Mickey are going to be honored, and you'll catch a glimpse of who the last three members of this new Organization are going to be.


	5. The Ceremony of Heroes

**Chapter 5: The Ceremony of Heroes**

As the morning came upon the castle, Sora wakes up and heads to a grand dining hall to eat breakfast. In the dining hall, he sees Riku and Yuffie talking. He notices that Riku is very relaxed around Yuffie and he is laughing too. Kairi comes in shortly after and hugs Sora around his back. She looks at Riku and Yuffie and giggles. She grabs Sora's hand and moves him to a separate part of the dining table. As they sit down, she whispers to Sora, "I think Riku may actually have a crush on Yuffie."

"Really?" Sora asks densely, not seeing how Kairi is getting to that conclusion, especially since Riku never really shown an interest in any girl, except for Kairi, as long as Sora could remember.

"Yeah, he and Yuffie are still wearing the same outfits as last night, so they must have been here for hours talking to each other. He blushed yesterday when Yuffie called him cute when she first saw him. And most importantly, he is laughing and smiling because of Yuffie," Kairi states factually to the man she loves.

"Huh," Sora says in deep thought about Riku and Yuffie.

"Yikes, look at the time. I've gotta go. See ya Riku," Yuffie exclaims, giving Riku a kiss on his cheek and rushes to get ready.

Riku has a smile on his face and touches his cheek where Yuffie kissed him. He notices that Sora and Kairi are looking at him and they both have a smirk on their faces. "What?" Riku demands with a red hue in his cheeks.

"So, how was talking with Yuffie?" Kairi asks in sweet but teasing tone,

"Yeah, how was your all-nighter?" Sora teases.

"We just talked about whatever we felt like. She's really blunt, so that's really nice," Riku says with the red blush slowly creeping up his face and becoming brighter. He suddenly realizes what Sora just said. "Wait, what do you mean all-nighter?" Riku demands in a tone of slight panic.

"You're wearing the same clothes that we arrived here with, and it is now morning," Sora says.

"Oh, shi-," Riku starts to say, but doesn't finish because he runs towards his room to change and get ready for the ceremony.

"I don't think I've ever seen him rush like that before," Sora casually states as he resumes eating his breakfast.

"Well, as soon as we finish eating, we should get ready for the ceremony," Kairi says in observance that the ceremony is to start within only a couple of hours. The two finish eating breakfast. Sora walks Kairi to her room, they share a passionate kiss and he heads back to his own room.

A couple of hours later, in the giant, majestic courtyard of Radiant Garden, all the resident of Radiant Garden and the visitors from Disney Castle are seated. Master Yen Sid stands before them, he announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to honor three new heroes for the side of the Light." He gestures to his back left to Sora, Kairi, and Riku, who are all wearing formal royal military uniform garbs. "And to honor one of the most seasoned heroes for the side of Light," Master Yen Sid gestures to King Mickey, who is dressed like Sora, Kairi, and Riku, and standing to Master Yen Sid's back right.

Master Yen Sid faces back to the crowd and continues, "Honors for the lady first, Princes Kairi!" Kairi stands before Master Yen Sid, with her back to the crowd and she kneels. "Princess Kairi is being recognized for her status as one of the Seven Princesses of Heart, a keyblade wielder, and for her constant valor, love, and loyalty for her friends and is willing to face down tough enemies to protect and help them." Master Yen Sid produces a sword and sets the blade lightly upon Kairi's shoulder and proclaims, "Under the authority of the representation to both Radiant Garden and Disney Castle, I hereby bequeath you the name and title of Lady Kairi Hanran of Destiny Islands." He allows Kairi to stand, who turns to the crowd and bows to them, causing the crowd to cheer. She walks back to standing beside Sora.

Master Yen Sid resumes, "Next to receive honors, is King Mickey Mouse, Ruler of Disney Castle!" King Mickey stands before his former master and kneels. "King Mickey is being honored today for his work as a Keyblade Master. He has gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect the worlds of Light. For his undying valor, wisdom, and loyalty, we honor and bequeath King Mickey with the title of Master of the Keyblade Council." King Mickey stands up and bows to the crowd, which receives a very enthusiastic cheer, especially from the residents of Disney Castle and Sora, Riku, and Kairi. He walks back to standing beside Riku.

Master Yen Sid continues, "Another recipient to receiving honors is Master Riku!" Riku stands in front of Master Yen Sid, nods to him, and kneels. "Master Riku is being recognized for his status of being newly acknowledged as a Keyblade Master, his hand in defeating Organization XIII, and his constant loyalty, valor, and reliability to his friends to do whatever is necessary to protect them." Master Yen Sid raises his sword and lightly touches Riku's shoulder and proclaims, "Under the authority of the representation to both Radiant Garden and Disney Castle, I hereby bequeath you the name and title of Lord Riku Jishin of Destiny Islands." Riku stands up and bows to the crowd, getting a thunderous applause, especially from Yuffie, Sora, Kairi, and King Mickey. He walks to being right between King Mickey and Sora.

Master Yen Sid raises his hands to calm the crowd and resumes, "Finally to receive honors, is Master Sora!" Sora stands before Master Yen Sid, smiles, and kneels. "Master Sora is being recognized as being newly acknowledged as a Keyblade Master, his work in defeating the Heartless forces under Maleficent, the Heartless forces under Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, the Nobody forces under Organization XIII, and his hand in defeating most of the members, and his constant valor, loyalty, and leadership to make alliances, help friends, and stop enemies." Master Yen Sid raises his sword and lightly touches Sora's shoulder and proclaims, "Under the authority of the representation to both Radiant Garden and Disney Castle, I hereby bequeath you the name and title of Lord Sora Tatsumaki of Destiny Islands." Sora stands, turns to face the crowd, who has everyone giving a standing ovation, and gestures for Riku, Kairi, and King Mickey to join him. All four of them take hands to show their strength of unity and friendship.

As the ceremony ends, Riku sneaks off away from the group. King Mickey is talking to Master Yen Sid and Queen Minnie. Kairi is talking to Tifa and Rinoa. Sora is approached by the Gullwings. "Hey guys," Sora greets with a smile.

"Sora, we have a question to ask you," Rikku hesitates to say.

"Sure, what is it?" Sora asks.

"Could stay on your world?" Yuna asks.

Sora is taken aback by this question and asks, "Um, why?"

"We have a bad reputation on Radiant Garden, for being former spies of Maleficent and being treasure hunters," Paine elaborates.

"So, you three want to go on a world and create a good reputation for yourselves?" Sora clarifies, "Sure, why not."

"Thank you!" scream the three Gullwings as they hug Sora.

"Excuse me, I couldn't but hear that you three are going to go to Sora's world," says Auron as he makes himself known to the Gullwings. He addresses Yuna, "I would like to offer myself to serve as a Guardian to you. I knew your father, Lord Braska."

"Oh," Yuna says surprised by this sudden offer. She instantly says, "I accept your offer, Sir Auron."

This causes Sora to smile, because this means he'll have four more of his friends that he gained over his travels being on the same world as him. The rest of the afternoon, everyone talk with each other about anything that came up in their minds.

That evening, the Disney Castle group is boarding the gummi ship to return home. Riku is having an intimate conversation with Yuffie. "I enjoy being with you. I promise you that I'll come back to see you as often as I can, now that I know how to summon the gummi ship from my home world."

Sora and Kairi are starting to board when they suddenly see Yuffie kiss Riku passionately on his lips. This shocks them as they see Riku wrapping his arms around Yuffie's waist and deepen the kiss, but Sora regains his composure and yells to Riku, "Hurry up Riku, we're leaving in less than a minute!" Sora and Kairi enter into the gummi ship to take their seats.

"You better keep your promise, Riku!" Yuffie tearfully says as she pushes Riku into the gummi ship as the door begins to slowly close.

"I will, I promise you, Yuffie!" Riku yells before the doors shut fully. He rushes to get a seat, as the gummi ship starts up. Once Riku gets buckled into a seat next to Sora and Kairi, Launchpad flies the ship away from Radiant Garden. As the ship leaves, all of the Radiant Garden residents wave farewell to their friends.

"Man, Riku, who'd expect for you to find anyone, let alone someone on another world?" Sora teases.

"I don't know Sora, it feels so romantic," Kairi teasingly swoons causing Sora and Riku to laugh.

"Who knows man?" Riku laughs. "But I'm glad it happened," Riku smiles looking out of the window at the shrinking Radiant Garden in the distance.

For the entire trip back to Destiny Islands, Sora, Kairi, and Riku chat with everyone on board. Sora requests that Launchpad drops of Auron and the Gullwings on the main island and drop himself, Kairi, and Riku off at their island. Upon dropping of Auron and the Gullwings, both groups exchange 'good byes' and 'see you later'. Launchpad lands on Sora's island and the three of them wish the rest of them to have a safe flight home and that they'll see all of them again in the future.

As the gummi ship flies away, Sora, Kairi, and Riku wave. The three look at each other and shift their bodies to stare at the main island.

"I wonder if this is the end of our adventures," Kairi says.

"I doubt it, there will always be darkness spreading," Riku says.

"And we'll be there to stop it," Sora says.

Meanwhile in the Dark Abyss, the mysterious traveler encounters three hooded men.

"I have a job offer for you," he bluntly tells them.

"For what," the leader of the trio asks.

"To join Organization XIII under the leadership of my Master," the mysterious traveler says. "Now who are you?"

"We are three of members of Organization XIII," the leader states with his companions chuckling maliciously.

**Author's Note**: The last names I chose to give to Sora, Kairi, and Riku are Japanese for "Tornado"; "Flood"; and "Earthquake" respectfully. When I first outlined this chapter I thought I was going to originally have Chapters 4 and 5 be Chapter 4. But with the end of Chapter 5 comes the final chapter of the prologue. In Chapter 6: Growing Up, two years have passed. Sora has a job and is a senior in high school. You will see where all of the beloved residents of Destiny Islands are doing with their lives. Sora is going to have the biggest choice to make in this next chapter.


	6. Growing Up

**Chapter 6: Growing Up**

Two years have passed to the day since Sora, Riku, and Kairi returned home from their adventures.

Sora, now at the age of 18 years old, looks more like his dad now, as he has spiky hair but it is shorter then it was when he was 16 and he has a goatee growing. He still wears the same set of cloths that the three good fairies gave him almost three years ago. The magic in the cloths allows them to be whatever size Sora needs them to be.

Sora and Kairi's relationship is going strong and they only keep getting more in love with each other. Sora is a senior in high school and works for the Shinra Company, under the management of Rufus Shinra, as a member of their Research and Development Program, and his job title is being a Turk. He works under Senior Turks: Reno, who's a really laid back guy, and Rude, who's a quiet guy.

Kairi, who is also 18 years old, is getting more physically mature. Her breasts have gotten larger and her hair longer. She wears a pink outfit similar to the one she usually wore when she was 16. Kairi is a senior in high school with Sora. She works as a singer at a bar called Sanctuary.

Riku, who is 19 years old now, graduated from high school a year ago. He has been working as a representative to the newly formed Alliance of the Realm of Light. He is a delegate of Destiny Islands. Riku has also been in a relationship with Yuffie since he started working as a representative because he stays on Radiant Garden for most of the time. Whenever Riku comes back home to Destiny Islands, Yuffie comes with him and they both stay in his apartment but visit with his family every time. Riku's family loves Yuffie. Riku wears the same style clothes he wore two years ago and his hair stays the same length as it did for two years, in which it is down to his mid back.

The Gullwings have adjusted well into being residents on Destiny Islands. Rikku, Paine, and Yuna work together as singers at Sanctuary with Kairi, but call themselves the Gullwings. Rikku does side work as a mechanic. Paine works as a barkeep in training at Sanctuary. Yuna is dating Tidus, one of Sora's childhood friends.

Tidus is a star sports player with his blitzball team. Tidus now wears a more armor covered outfit than he wore when he was younger as he has been practicing martial arts under the mentorship of Auron. Tidus and Wakka are still best friends. Wakka is the captain of the blitzball team. He wears an outfit that fits his athletic lifestyle. Wakka recently began dating Lulu, a local shopkeeper. Lulu works as a local shopkeeper of a doll shop. She wears a gothic style dress. Selphie is a senior with Sora and Kairi. She is a very enthusiastic student and meditates with Auron in the local monastery. She wears an outfit that goes with her school and relaxed lifestyle. Auron works at the local monastery as a Guardian, in which he teaches martial arts to potential Guardians. He spends most of his time in recent days, meditating with Selphie or training his students, his best pupil being Tidus. His hair has gotten a little greyer, but he is still very healthy and fit for his age.

Over the last two years, Sora has become wiser and more relaxed with his personality. He has even taken up the practice of meditation. As of right now, Sora is sitting on the floor with his legs crisscrossed now, meditating in his bedroom.

"Sora," says Sora's Nobody, Roxas, who also has gotten more mature with the time. His voice has gotten deeper.

"Yeah, Roxas?" Sora replies with his eyes closed.

"You ready for tonight?" Roxas asks.

"Yup," Sora says.

Roxas astral projects himself out of Sora's body. Roxas looks the same as before, except he is taller and more filled out, like how Sora is, and has a goatee of his own. "You sound sure about this, but if you aren't one hundred percent sure…" Roxas teases.

Sora laughs about this and responds, "Roxas, you know I'm ready for this. But are you ready? Because this will affect you just as much."

Roxas sweat drops and laughs, "I didn't think about that one."

They both share a laugh. As the laughter dies out, Sora says, "Roxas, I am sorry that I haven't been able to separate us yet…"

"Its' okay, Sora, I know you've been trying. Hell, we've all been trying to find a safe way to separate ourselves," Roxas says as he remembers that everyone from Radiant Garden and Disney Castle have been trying to help Sora and Kairi generate a physical form of their Nobodies.

"I wish that for today, you and Naminé could be there to see all of our important events in our lives and also, for you two to live your own lives," Sora says sadly.

Roxas places his astral hand upon Sora's shoulder. He looks Sora straight into his eyes and says, "It's not your fault that Naminé and I are unable to have physical bodies, but you and Kairi gave us a chance to exist outside of your bodies. So don't beat yourself up, and please, don't dwell on it. Today's a big day for you. You-know-what is going to happen and also you are graduating tonight." Without another word, Roxas closes his eyes and rejoins Sora. In Sora's mind, Roxas says, "Now get out of here and go see Kairi." Roxas ends with a laugh.

"Fine," Sora laughs as he stands up. He leaves his room and goes into the streets. He walks past the blitzball arena and catches a glimpse of Tidus and Wakka playing in their final game for the season. He sees the Gullwings, Lulu, Selphie, and Auron in the stands cheering for Tidus and Wakka.

Sora arrives to the mayor's house and knocks on the door. Kairi's father, Uryo, the mayor of Destiny Islands answers the door. "Well hello there Sora," Uryo greets with a smile on his face.

"Hey there, Uryo, is Kairi home?" Sora asks.

"Why yes, she is, I'll go get her." Uryo says. He goes inside and yells, "Kairi, Sora's here."

"Coming, Dad!" Kairi calls down as she runs down the stairs to go outside to see Sora waiting for her.

"Now make sure you get her back in time to get ready for graduation," Uryo says to Sora with a smile on his face. He turns to his daughter, "Have fun." He gives her a kiss on the cheek and waves at the couple as they leave.

"So, Sora, you said that today is going to be unforgettable," Kairi says as she wraps her hand into Sora's.

"Did I?" Sora says with a smile. "We've got to first get to the docks," Sora says as they continue to walk.

"Really, are we going to the island?" Kairi asks.

"Yes, I want us to go one last time as kids," Sora says.

"One last time?" Kairi says in deep thought as how this is their last day of being considered children.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Sora ponders out loud. He turns to comfort Kairi and says, "We've been through a lot over the last few years, but this is going to be an unforgettable day." He squeezes her hand gently as they arrive to the docks. At the docks, he takes her to a two person sized rowboat. "I rented it from one of the local shops for this special occasion," he smiles as he gestures for Kairi to get into the boat.

"Special occasion?" Kairi asks with a smile.

"Yup," Sora says as they both get into the rowboat. He keeps her guessing what he is up to as he starts his rowing to their island. Once the boat hits land, Sora takes Kairi by the hand and leads her into the Special Place. "Do you remember what happened two years ago from today?" Sora asks Kairi.

"You returned home and back to my life for good. And how could I forget that you made me the happiest girl in the whole universe on that day," Kairi smiles as she recalls that wonderful and unforgettable day of that life.

"You made me the luckiest boy on that day," Sora smiles. He takes a deep breath and continues, "Kairi, you've been my light, since the first time I've ever laid eyes on you. I only fall more in love with you as each day goes by. Two years ago, you made me your boyfriend and the happiest boy in the universe." He gets onto one knee, "I love you and I want you to make me the happiest man in the universe." He pulls out a little box from his pocket and opens it. Inside the box is the most beautiful ring she has ever seen before. It is a ring that has a sapphire as a stone instead of a diamond. He knew that Kairi's favorite stone was a sapphire because it reminded her of the sea. He proposes, "Kairi, will you marry me?"

* * *

**Sora's Journal****  
****_Destiny Islands_**

_Sora__  
_He is the main hero of our tail. He is one of the Keyblades' Chosen Ones and a Keyblade Master. He saved the worlds in the past from the forces of darkness while traveling the worlds with Donald and Goofy. He is about to graduate from high school. He works for the Shinra Co. R & D Div.

_Kairi__  
_She is Sora's girlfriend for the last two years. She is one of the Keyblades' Chosen Ones and a Princess of Heart. She is about to graduate from high school with Sora. She works at Sanctuary as a singer.

_Roxas__  
_He is Sora's Nobody. Former Number XIII of Organization XIII. AKA "The Key of Destiny". He currently resides within Sora.

_Tidus__  
_(Final Fantasy X –2001)  
He is a childhood friend of Sora, Kairi, and Riku. He is a blitzball player.

_Wakka__  
_(Final Fantasy X – 2001)  
He is best friends with Tidus since childhood, as well as been friends with Sora, Kairi, and Riku. He is the captain of the blitzball team.

_Rikku__  
_(Final Fantasy X – 2001)  
She is one of the Gullwings. She was turned from a pixie to human two years ago by Merlin and has been residing on Destiny Islands since.

_Paine__  
_(Final Fantasy X-2 – 2003)  
She is one of the Gullwings. She was turned from a pixie to human two years ago by Merlin and has been residing on Destiny Islands since.

_Yuna__  
_(Final Fantasy X –2001)  
She is Tidus' girlfriend. She is one of the Gullwings. She was turned from a pixie to human two years ago by Merlin and has been residing on Destiny Islands since.

_Lulu__  
_(Final Fantasy X –2001)  
She is Wakka's girlfriend. She is a local shopkeeper.

_Selphie Tilmitt__  
_(Final Fantasy VIII – 1999)  
She is one of Sora, Kairi, and Riku's childhood friends. She trains under Auron to be a better martial artist.

_Auron__  
_(Final Fantasy X –2001)  
He helped Sora fight Hades when Sora was at Olympus Coliseum. He served as a Guardian to the Gullwings since they arrived on Destiny Islands. He trains Selphie on becoming a better martial artist.

_Uryo__  
_He is Kairi's adoptive father and mayor of Destiny Islands.

**Author's Note**: Kairi's father was given the name Uryo from Japanese "waterfall". With the end of Chapter 6, we see that Sora asked Kairi to be his wife. This day is going to be one of the biggest days in Sora and Kairi's lives. Graduation and a proposal, what do you think of that? In Chapter 7: Graduation, we see what Kairi's answer is and the return of Riku and Yuffie.


	7. Graduation

**Chapter 7: Graduation**

"Yes. Yes! YES!" squeals Kairi as she jumps up and down from the sheer excitement of the love of her life proposing to her.

Sora grins as he slides the ring onto her left ring finger. She admires the beauty of the ring. Sora says, "I told you today was gonna be unforgettable."

"You were right," she smiles.

Sora stands up and Kairi wraps her arms around his neck. He leans and kisses her. It is a long and passionate kiss. When they pull apart, Sora whispers into her ear, "I love you so much Kairi."

"I love you too Sora," whispers Kairi with a smile.

They start kissing again, this time there was sheer passion. As passion is poured into the kiss, the more the two want each other. After making out for thirty minutes in which, during this time Sora and Kairi went from standing in the middle of the cave and by the end they were laying down next to their cave drawing. Sora mumbles, "I really want you now…but I know we should wait."

Kairi giggles as she is laying her upper body on Sora's chest. "I know what you mean…it's just that would cause too much excitement for one night, and I don't want to have to explain to my dad why I'm all hot and sweaty," Kairi teases.

"Yeah, that would be troublesome," Sora laughs.

"But you still want me?" Kairi says seductively.

"Oi, now that isn't fair!" Sora mockingly pouts, "First you say you want me, and then you say we can't have 'fun', and now you're trying to seduce me? What the hell!" Sora throws his arms up in fake frustration.

Kairi sits up and laughs because of her fiancé's rant. She leans her face towards him and says, "It's what women are good at." She winks at him and sticks her tongue out at him. "And Sora, you are stuck with this woman for a long time," she says as she exaggerates on the word 'long'.

He flips her underneath his body and says with a smile on his face, "And I wouldn't pass it up for all the munny in the world." He looks deep into her eyes and can tell that she wants him, like he wants her. He lowers his head and she cranes her head upwards. Their lips connect and they resume making out for another half hour.

As Sora and Kairi are on their island enjoying their newfound happiness with being engaged, Riku and Yuffie arrive to Destiny Islands via gummi ship. Riku parks the ship nearby his apartment. As soon as he shuts the gummi off, he gets out of the ship as fast as he can. "Home, Sweet Home," Riku says with a smile on his face. Yuffie wraps her arms around his back and nuzzles the back of his neck. Riku turns around to his girlfriend and asks, "You know what makes home more amazing?"

"No, what?" Yuffie teases, as she has a general idea of what her boyfriend was going to say next.

"I have you to share it with," Riku smiles as he gives the cheesy and foreseeable line, but knows that Yuffie would appreciate the sentimentality he meant to go with it, and that's what makes them fall more in love with each other.

"It has nothing to do with the fact, that you, as a 19 year old male, who has a very sexy girlfriend, conveniently have an apartment all to yourself?" Yuffie teases with a seductive smile on her face. Riku's face turns red with what his girlfriend says. This causes Yuffie to giggle more, because it pleases her that she is able to still make her boyfriend blush even after a year of dating.

"I swear, you enjoy seducing me, just for my reactions," Riku laughs softly as he places one of his hands on Yuffie's cheek, stroking it softly.

"Not just that, it's also because you are a really good man," Yuffie says, placing her hand on top of his.

As soon as they get all of their stuff to stay at the apartment, they start walking through the town, hand in hand. By the time they get to the docks, it is almost the evening, and they see Sora and Kairi rowing back to the main island. Riku and Yuffie walk to the shoreline to meet up with Sora and Kairi.

"Riku! Yuffie!" Sora and Kairi shout with a smile as they get off their boat to hug their friends.

"It's good to see you guys again," Riku says with a smile as he and Yuffie return their friends' hugs.

"How long are you two back for this time?" Sora asks.

"I'm here for your graduation, after that, we'll probably stop by to see my parents for a bit and then head back to Radiant Garden," Riku says.

"Shouldn't you two be getting for graduation?" Yuffie asks.

"About that…Riku, Yuffie, there is something that Kairi and I want you two to be the first ones to know," Sora says with a nervous smile.

"She isn't preg…" Riku says with wide eyes.

"Oh no, nothing like that!" Sora says, raising his hands defensively.

"We're engaged!" Kairi squeals as she shows Riku and Yuffie her sapphire engagement ring.

"What, congratulations!" Yuffie says as she gets over the initial shock of the news. She hugs Kairi.

"Congratulations!" Riku says as he gives Sora a brotherly hug. "When did you do it?" Riku asks.

"Today, just a couple of hours ago, on our island," Sora says.

"Oh, before Riku forgets because of this exciting news, tell Sora some more good news," Yuffie says with a smile.

"Right," Riku says with smile. "Sora, you have been given a position with the Alliance to serve as an ambassador and emissary for the rest of the other worlds with the Realm of Light. Congratulations." Riku says with a smile.

"Really!? That's amazing," Kairi says as she hugs Sora.

"I'm honored! Whose idea was it for me to be given this position?" Sora asks with curiosity on who decided to give him this honor to do what he already loves to do so much as a career.

"It was proposed by Leon, Cloud, Mickey, and myself, but Laguna fully supported it, and it was agreed upon unanimously by all of the ambassadors of everyone in the alliance," Riku says.

"Thank you so much," Sora says with a smile. He suddenly realizes the time and says, "I'm sorry but Kairi and I've got to go home and get ready for our graduation, I'll you guys there."

The two young couples went their separate ways as Sora and Kairi run to get Kairi home, and after giving her a quick kiss, Sora runs back to his home to change into his cap and gown. That night, at the outside concert hall, families and friends of the graduates of the Destiny Island High School, start to fill up the stands. The concert band starts playing the graduation song, "Pomp and Circumstance", the seniors to start walking into the concert hall and start sitting down.

Sora's headmaster, Reeve Tuesti, walks across the stage and is that podium and announces to everyone in attendance, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to celebrate the passing of these young men and women from being children to being adults…"

As Reeve's speech continues, a hooded figure arrives through a portal of darkness right behind one of the stage lights, so he is not seen by anyone in the audience, and waits for the graduation to commence.

After several students walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. Kairi and Sora are waiting in line to cross the stage. As soon as Kairi heard Reeve say "Kairi", she starts walk across the stage and receives her diploma. When Kairi got her diploma, she heard all of her friends and her parents scream out her name with happiness. She waves at them and gets to the end of the stage while she waits for her fiancé.

Sora hears his name and starts his walk across the stage and right before he can get his diploma, several people in the audience scream in terror. The hooded man jumps down and lands right in the center of the front stage and snaps his fingers. Suddenly thousands of Heartless and Nobodies occur throughout the entire hall and are covering the pathways and preventing people from reaching the exits.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry to interrupt this evening to notify you all that as of tonight, you will all die," the hooded man says with an emotionless tone. "Except for you, Sora," the hooded man says as he turns to face Sora. The hooded man produces an all-black keyblade that looks similar to the Kingdom Key. He points it at Sora and says, "I want you to be captured alive!"

* * *

**Sora's Journal****  
****_Destiny Islands_**

_Kairi (2nd Entry)__  
_She is Sora's fiancée. She is one of the Keyblades' Chosen Ones and a Princess of Heart. She is about to graduate from high school with Sora. She works at Sanctuary as a singer.

_Riku__  
_He is Sora and Kairi's best friend since childhood. He is one of the Keyblades' Chosen Ones and a Keyblade Master. He works as a representative for the Alliance of the Realm of Light.

_Yuffie Kisaragi__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
She is Riku's girlfriend. She helped Sora in his past adventures. She is from Radiant Garden.

_Reeve Tuesti__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
He is Sora's headmaster.

_Hooded Man__  
_He is a mysterious man that showed up to Sora's graduation with an army of Heartless and Nobodies.

**Author's Notes**: Finally, we're getting to some action! With the end of Chapter 7, we see that there is going to be a battle coming to Destiny Islands. Chapters 6 and 7 were originally supposed to be one big chapter. In Chapter 8: The Battle of Destiny Islands, the battle for survival will begin.


	8. The Battle of Destiny Islands

**Chapter 8: The Battle of Destiny Islands**

The hooded man keeps a serious pose while he's pointing at Sora with deep intent. In five seconds he starts to laugh. "Oh I'm just kidding," the hooded man says while he continues to laugh as he lowers his arm.

"What the…?" Sora utters in pure confusion.

"Okay, I'm back," the hooded man regains his composure. "You are all going to die, including you, Sora," he states in a cold murderous voice.

"I don't think so!" Sora yells as he does a backflip off of the stage and lands right in a kneeling position in front of the stage. He stands up and pivots on the balls of his feet swiftly and he looks up the stage into the hood of the man that is commanding the forces. He yells and points at his enemy, "You and your army should leave now before you try and pick a fight with me and my friends!"

"Oh, really?" scoffs the hooded man, "And what do you think you can do against my army? There are over ten thousand Heartless and Nobodies under my command. Not even Sora can defeat that many alone. Especially while trying to protect the lives of all these wonderful people." He gestures the audience as he says the words 'wonderful people' with pure venom in his voice. He regains his composure, "I may let them live if you, ahem, surrender to me, without a fight." He continues, "But if you don't, I will kill every parasite in this godforsaken place, starting with HER!" The hooded man manically laughs as he points at Kairi. As he stops his laughter he says, "Oh, I'm just messing with you…" He pauses and bends his knees and raises his right hand to the side of where his mouth is located and stage whispers, "I'm going to kill everyone anyways."

"Like I said," Sora throws of his cap and gown, "I don't think so." He summons his silver bladed and golden handled keyblade, the Kingdom Key, and rotates it in the palm of his hand. "Now, I am going to tell you this nicely," he points the end of his keyblade to the hooded man. "Get off of my world or I will be forced to beat the crap out of you and your army," he says in a matter of fact tone with his voice.

"Then," the hooded man says, "Let's get this party started." He snaps his fingers and his army roars as they charge at Sora and start their attack.

Sora rotates his upper body and uses his keyblade to slash five Neoshadows and destroys them instantaneously. His backside is left exposed and two Dusks jump at an opportunity to attack him, when suddenly they are destroyed. Sora looks over his shoulder and sees Kairi with Destiny's Embrace in her left hand as she is squatting down from her side swipe attack. She nods at Sora and throws off her cap and gown. The cap and gown blocks the vision of five Soldiers and three Shadows. Sora and Kairi run side by side and use their keyblades to cut through the enemies' midriffs.

"Riku!" Sora yells as he cuts vertically downward and destroys two Dusks and a Creeper by cutting them through their chests. "Get these people out of here!" Sora screams as he uses a backhand slash attack, which cuts six Neoshadows through their middles. Kairi thrusts her keyblade through the middle of three Shadows chests. "We'll try to stall them as long as we possibly can!"

"On it!" Riku yells as he already cut through thirty, singlehandedly, of the enemies with Way to Dawn to get to a center where several people have been cornered by the enemy forces. He raises his hand with an open palm and shouts the spell, "FIRE!" A fireball flies from his hand and destroys fifteen Creepers with an explosion. He runs and cuts through ten Shadows and two Soldiers as he gets to where the civilians are located. "COME ON! Let's move!" Riku yells as he gestures for the group of civilians to follow him. He points his keyblade to the sky and yells "THUNDER!" A series of lightning bolts come from the sky and devastate fifty of the enemy units, and clearing a path for the civilians with Riku to escape. As Riku is working on the evacuation of civilians in the north section, Sora and Kairi have cut through one hundred more enemy units without the use of magical aid so far in their location in front of the stage. Riku cuts through three more Creepers, turns and shouts to the highest point of the concert hall and yells, "Yuffie, where are other civilians pinned down?"

"Riku, there are a group of civilians cornered at the south side!" Yuffie yells as she throws her shurikens, or ninja stars, to stop enemies from crawling up to get her. Her current hit count is twenty units that she's successfully destroyed. She uses her abilities as a ninja to teleport to another location and eliminated five more with a speedy, yet effective, surprise attack with her shurikens.

"Got it," Riku grunts as he slays his tenth enemy in quick succession. He points his keyblade in front of him at the enemy and yells, "BLIZZARD!" Three balls of ice fly out of the end of his keyblade and explode into icicle bombs, which destroy eighteen more units. He rushes past the location where the Gullwings were previously seated.

"Tidus, I think this may be either the worst or best date, you've taken me on," Yuna says as she shoots her fortieth enemy with her twin pistols. She smiles at Tidus, who is in the middle of cutting his fiftieth enemy with an uppercut from his blade.

"I don't know, maybe," Tidus laughs as he does a spin attack, cutting down five Dusks. He is almost flanked from the behind, when Yuna shoots down two dozen more units and reloads her guns in a quick motion. "Wakka, having fun yet?" Tidus asks his best friend as he cuts down five more Soldiers.

"Loads, mahn!" Wakka says with his native islander accent. He turns and throws his blitzball with all of his strength and destroys his fiftieth unit. He looks over at Lulu and laughs, "So much for a boring night, huh?" He destroys four Neoshadows with a quick toss from his blitzball.

"FIRE!" she screams as she destroys her hundredth enemy with her black magic. "Wakka, this is no time to…THUNDER!" She scolds her boyfriend as she is forced to destroy fifteen Shadows with her lightning attack as she raises her hand in the air to bring down the lightning. "…to joke. We are in big trouble, we need to…BLIZZARD!" She tries to resume lecturing Wakka but destroys fifteen more Soldiers with both her hands outstretched in front of her. "Focus," Lulu finishes and gives a sigh of annoyance as she sees her boyfriend continuing to defeat twenty more units during her speech. "WATER!" She screams as she causes a wave of water to destroy fifty units surrounding her and Wakka.

As Lulu and Wakka were drawing the attention of several groups of the enemy, Rikku was lobbying grenades at the enemies, and was at a count of three hundred enemy units destroyed. Rikku sneaks her way between enemy lines and throws ten grenades into the air. They go off and destroy two hundred more enemies. "Oh no! Paine, I'm running low on grenades!" She panics when she regroups with Paine.

"We've at least defeated one eighth of their units," Paine says as she defeats her hundred and thirtieth enemy unit. She cuts through five more Shadows and takes a deep breath. "There are too many of them! This makes the battle on Hallow Bastion look like nothing…" She cuts down ten more Neoshadows in a sweeping motion.

As the Gullwings were taking care of the enemies in the western part of the hall, Selphie and Auron are continuing their fight against the enemies in the eastern section. Auron swings his heavy blade and obliterates his thousandth enemy. Selphie uses her nunchaku to slam her two hundredth enemy into the ground.

"Keep your guard up!" Auron snarls to his fellow meditator as he cuts through six Soldiers.

"Yes, Auron!" Selphie says as she uses her nunchaku to block an attack and use them to beat two Creepers.

In the box office, three men are fighting back several of enemy forces. Two of the men are wearing all black suits and are using clubs and another man is wearing a tan suit using a pistol. Rufus Shinra and the two Turks are giving aid to their coworker, Sora. Rufus uses his pistol and shoots a Creeper in its' head.

"Man…isn't this a drag?" the red headed Reno laughs as he beats down one of the Dusks attacking him.

"A bit," the bald Rude grunts as he plows his right fist into one of the Soldiers destroying it.

"Sora sure chose some great enemies," Reno laughs as he turns toward Rude to smirk on his face.

"Stop talking and beat the crap out of them!" Rufus scolds his subordinates and turns to shoot one of the Creepers through the box window.

While all of their friends beat back the enemies, Sora and Kairi beat the last of the enemies surrounding them. As Sora cuts through the last Soldier, he turns to the hooded man and says, "We've beat back all of your troops! You should retreat before I decide to kick your butt right now!"

The hooded man chuckles as he "Indeed you have defeated my troops," he states in his matter of fact tone. He paces the stage while stroking his chin and says in a mockingly thoughtful voice, "But there was something I forget to mention." He snaps his fingers, "Oh, that's right." He turns his head to Sora and tells him, "That was just the first wave!" He stands up straight and yells, "ATTACK!" As soon as he says this, one hundred thousand more Heartless appear into the arena. He goes to the edge of the stage and plops a seat. "Go on and kill them," the hooded man says in a bored voice as he waves his hand lazily.

With the sudden emergence of a second wave of enemies, Sora and his allies are instantly overwhelmed by the enemy forces. One by one, Sora's friends are disarmed and forced to submit. Soon, only Sora, Kairi, and Riku are left standing. All of them are exhausted and badly beaten. Three Large Bodies triple teamed Riku, forcing him to collapse from the sheer force. Kairi is knocked to the ground when two Morning Stars jump up and slam their bodies into her and forces her to collapse onto the ground. Sora is the only one that stands to continue fighting. He collapses onto one knee when four Samurais attack him. He finally submits because of the amount of a beating he's taking from the enemy forces.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Sora, Sora, Sora," the hooded man mockingly scolds. He gestures for his troops for his Sora and his allies to be brought in front of him. Sora, Kairi, and Riku are the only ones standing as they are presented before him. "You have fought bravely, but sadly, I must end all of your efforts," he says in mocking admiration. "Farewell, Sora and friends," he says, and he looks to his troops and commands, "Kill them."

The Berserkers raise their massive claymores and prepare to crush Sora and his allies' skulls. "I love you Kairi," Sora says as he closes his eyes. The Berserkers swing their blades downwards as they get obliterated by blasts from very big guns. Sora opens his eyes and looks up to see where the guns belonged to. The guns belonged to two gunships and they were getting closer and closer to where Sora and his allies are located. The gunships start obliterating enemy troops within a fifty foot radius of Sora and his friends.

"What is this!?" roars the hooded man at this sudden emergence of the two gunships. He looks at Sora and yells, "Who are they!?"

The gunships drop off ten people with both ships pilots staying in them. The leader of the party yells, "We're reinforcements, fool!"

* * *

**_Sora's Journal_****_  
_****Destiny Islands**

_Rufus Shinra__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
The leader of the Shinra Company

_Reno__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
He is one of the members of the Turks. He is one of Sora's coworkers.

_Rude__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
He is one of the members of the Turks. He is one of Sora's coworkers.

_Leader of the Reinforcements_

This man is responsible for saving Sora's life and turning the tide of the Battle of Destiny Islands.

**Author's Notes**: As Chapter 8 ends, the Battle of Destiny Islands continues to rage on. In Chapter 9: Reinforcements, Sora and his allies receive aid from the reinforcements, the tide of the battle turns.


	9. Reinforcements

**Chapter 9: Reinforcements**

"What the fuck! Who the fuck are you, really?" the hooded man yells as he throws his hands up in the air. He lowers them and says, "Oh right, it doesn't matter…" He turns and laughs, "You are all dead anyways." He summons his keyblade again and twirls it in his hand. He gestures it to Sora and asks, "Does this startle you?"

"That you have a…" Sora says in an unamused tone.

"…keyblade!" the hooded man says as he brandishes his keyblade, an all-white Kingdom Key with a razor sharp blade. He laughs, "That's right, I have a keyblade. What do you think of my Death by Light?"

"That it's gonna be a real pain in our asses," Riku says as he and his friends stand up and face the hooded man with caution. "How did you get that keyblade anyway?" Riku demands as he summons his keyblade and points the end at the hooded man.

"Spoilers," the hooded man simply says as he charges at Riku with his keyblade and clashes blades.

"Fuck!" the leader of the reinforcements yells, a large dark skinned male with a gun arm as his right hand and a set of cornrows, as he uses his gun arm to provide back up to Riku and yells at his team, "Help Sora and stop these fuckers!" He runs to Sora and says, "Sora, my name's Barret Wallace! I'm an old friend of Cloud's! I am here to help you and your friends with my group of reinforcements."

"Thanks Barret," Sora thanks as he summons the Kingdom Key. He gestures for his friends to get their weapons and begin their counterattack to the second wave. He turns back to Barret and asks, "Who are the members of the reinforcements?"

As Barret blasts a Samurai in its' head with his gun arm, he says to Sora, "Members of the team are: Vincent Valentine;" a man dressed in red and has a golden metal claw covering his left hand and a gun in his right end; "Irvine Kinneas;" a man with a ponytail and a cowboy hat and twin pistols; "Lightning;" a women with long pink hair and a gunblade; "Snow Villers;" a tall man wearing a trench coat, leather gloves, and a black bandana; "Cait Sith;" a talking cat that is operating a giant Moogle robot; "Red XIII;" a giant red cat with a fiery tail; "Kain Highwind;" a man wearing light black armor and wielding a lance; "Cecil Harvey;" a man wearing heavy black armor and wields a sword; "and Firion," a man wearing light armor and carries a large arsenal of weapons. He points at the gunships and says, "Those ships are the Sheera, which is piloted by Cid Highwind," who looks the same as he did two years ago, "and the Highwind, piloted by Sazh Katzroy," a dark skinned man with a huge afro.

"Thank goodness you arrived," Sora says as he cuts through a couple of Assassins. Sora asks, "How did you guys know we are going to need your help?"

"I don't know how your situation was known, but Laguna was given an anonymous tip that told him that some major shit was going to go down here, and that you would need some assistance, and he got Leon and Cloud to put together a special team and have us sent here to warn you," Barret says as he shoots a Beserker through its' head, "But, we're clearly too late to let warn you."

Kairi cuts through a Sorcerer and says to Barret as she provides backup for Sora, "At least you got here now instead of later, because if you didn't, we'd be dead. Thank you, Barret, thank you so much."

"It's my pleasure, ma'am," Barret says as he turns his gun arm and obliterates a Dancer with a single shot.

Sora's new allies have made it so that Sora's friends are able to retrieve their weapons and resume their fight. "How can we stop him?" Sora asks to Kairi and Riku as all of the others fight.

"Maybe I could distract him and you two finish him…" Kairi suggests as she slashes through an Assassin.

"That puts a lot of risk onto you. FIRE!" Riku grunts as he unleashes a full fiery attack from his hand that destroys his enemies.

"I agree with Riku, we shouldn't put you at any unnecessary danger, especially if we have no idea that we can stop him on our own…" Sora says as he grabs Kairi and places her close to his chest and cuts through an Armored Knight that was about stab her in her back. He looks into her eyes and says, "I love you Kairi, I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you again." He pivots and extends his free hand, aims it at a Lance Soldier that was twenty feet away, and yells, "FIRE!" Nothing happens and this causes Sora to start being worried. He releases Kairi and thrusts his keyblade forward and yells, "BLIZZARD." Still nothing happens and this causes Sora has a look of fear in his eyes. He turns to face Kairi and Riku and says, "I don't have any connection with magic!"

"None?" Riku questions as he covers Sora's back with his face and keyblade facing the oncoming storm of enemies.

"None," Sora clarifies with a frown on his face. "Kairi, can you use magic? If you can, stop as many of these monsters as fast and as safely that you can," Sora asks Kairi as he comes up with a plan of a counterattack.

"THUNDER!" Kairi screams as she thrusts her keyblade to the sky and a storm of lightning comes thundering down, obliterating the Lance Soldier that Sora was aiming at and also the group surrounding it. "I can use magic!" Kairi gleefully says as she kisses Sora on his cheek.

"That's great, now we need to beat these guys back," Sora says. He, Kairi, and Riku turn to face the masses of enemies. Sora stands in the middle with Kairi holding his hand on his left and Riku standing at his right. All three have their keyblades ready at hand. Sora turns to face Riku and nods at him. Riku nods in return and sprints to the right direction and into the storm with his keyblade in his right hand. Sora turns his head to Kairi and squeezes her hand. She squeezes back, they let go of each other's hands and she runs to the left side of the storm and she switches the keyblade from her left hand into her right and begins fighting back. Sora closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and runs straight into the middle of the battle.

As the battle rages on, Reeve makes his way back into the arena where his students are fighting their way back against the army. Reeve has two giant trunks with him that he rolled out into the arena from behind the stage. He opens both chests and inside the chests are a lot of elixirs. He waves at Sora and points to the chests and yells, "Use these to get back your health and ability to use magic!" A couple of Samurai heard Reeve yell and rush onto the stage. Reeve pulls out a pump action shotgun and destroys both of them.

Sora looks at his headmaster with an impressed look upon his face and yells, "Sir, I didn't know you were a man to take up arms."

"I didn't know that you made so many enemies at such a young age," Reeve yells with a smile on his face at one of his favorite pupils.

"Touché," Sora smiles as he returns his focus back onto the battle at hand against the forces surrounding him and Reeve returns to shooting.

Auron looks at Sora and Reeve and chuckles. "I should've told Sora that his headmaster is one of Cloud's old war buddies," Auron muses outwardly as he cuts through a Large Body with a downward cut. He rests his blade on his shoulder and scans the rest of the fighters. He focuses his attention onto Tidus and asks, "Do you remember what I told you about fighting with a sword?"

"Yeah," Tidus says as he slashes his blade downward through the middle of a Berserker. "Be quick," Tidus pauses as he reflexively decapitates a Gambler. "Be certain," Tidus thrusts his sword into the neck of a Large Body. "Be powerful," Tidus does a front flip and slams his blade through the core of a Morning Star.

"Good, you and Selphie have both learned a lot from me," Auron grunts as swings his blade through the middle of a Morning Star.

Yuna is watching Auron and Tidus talk as she shoots through the heads of two Snipers and aims to fire again. "Thank goodness that we are the size of humans or we'd have a problem fighting, right ladies?" Yuna asks to her fellow Gullwings.

"Yeah, I don't think Paine would be able to handle her sword if she was the size of a pixie still," Rikku giggles as she pulls out her twin short swords. She cuts through two Rapid Dogs and says, "And you wouldn't be able to hand your guns or Tidus'…" She gets cut off when a Berserker tries to crush her and she blocks it's claymore with her blades done in an cross-shape and counterattacks by cutting through its' face and shoulder blades. "Tidus' you know," Rikku finishes with a giggle.

"I am no longer surprised by what you say Rikku," Paine stifles a giggle as she tries to speak in a monotone. She pivots and cuts through the middle of a Lanced Soldier's head and lance. "But this is definitely an easier form to fight and help in," Paine continues as she cuts a Bolt Tower through its base. Yuna laughs at this and reloads her guns to resume shooting the enemies down.

As the Gullwings continue their chatting, Wakka does a body slam into a Dancer and throws his ball at a Sorcerer's head, destroying it. As the ball bounces back into his hands, he laughs and says, "Things are startin' to get interestin', ya?" He grins at Lulu as he jumps and spin kicks with full force a Neoshadow in its' chest.

"Of course, you'd find us near death and fighting for our lives exciting," Lulu says with a slight smirk on her face. She raises a hand and yells, "THUNDER!" The lightning hits the Fat Bandit that was charging at Wakka in its' back and obliterates it.

As Wakka and Lulu are flirting and fighting, Selphie is holding her own. "Booyaka! And goodbye!" Selphie yells as she slams her nunchaku onto the head of a Lance Soldier. She grins as she charges into the onslaught of opponents.

Rufus Shinra and the Turks, Reno and Rude, are fighting several yards away from where Selphie is. "I am tired of these vermin!" Rufus says as he shoots a Berserker in it's face. He turns to his employees and demands, "We need to get more men down here to back Sora up! Or else, that ass will just keep summoning more and more enemies to weaken our stamina with!" He pivots his body and shoots a Large Armor in its' neck and asks, "Reno, Rude, you two do understand my orders?"

"Of course boss," Reno scoffs as he elbows an Assassin in it's neck and slams his baton into the top of its' head. "Rude and I will get the rest of Shinra here with some birds to keep these assholes from killing us," says Reno with a glare in his eye as he scans the battlefield of their enemies.

"Yeah boss," Rude says as he punches a Soldier through it's helmet. He straightens his sunglasses and says, "We'll get some explosives to thin these guys out." He dodges an attack from an Assault Rider and grabs onto it's back, jumps, and lands right behind the torso. He grabs onto the helmet and jerks it sideways, which breaks it's neck.

As Rufus, Reno, and Rude fight to escape to get more reinforcements, Vincent Valentine is a ghost on the battlefield. He is silent as he teleports in a red blur from location to location, destroying his enemies with single shots to their heads.

Another hotshot, Irvine Kinneas, is shooting with his shotgun at the charging enemies. His scatter shots destroy a Dragoon as it is falling down to strike. "This is like shooting fish in a barrel," Irvine grins as he straightens his cowboy hat.

As Irvine is showing off, Lightning cuts through a Samurai and shoots another one in it's head. "Serah will kill me if you die, Snow!" Lightning snarls as shoots a Morning Star in it's weak point as it is about to slam Snow Villers.

"Thanks Lightning, I owe you one," Snow laughs as he punches a Luna Bandit's sword, breaking it in two, and proceeds in punching the unarmed Heartless in it's head. He announces in a taunting way to his enemies, "The hero is here to save the day, come and stop me!" He runs into the frenzy to fight.

While Snow is taunting his foes, Cait Sith, in his giant Moogle robot, goes charging into battle with Red XIII at his side. "I don't know if this suit is meant for a large scale battle like this Red," Cait Sith says as he starts pressing random buttons to get his suit to fight. He presses a large black button which causes the suit to pick up a Berserker and start slamming it into all of the surrounding enemies. "I like this button!" Cait Sith says in a clear highland accent with glee in his voice.

"Look out!" exclaims Red XIII as he jumps over the Berserker swinging robot and lands outside of the attack range and slams his body into the enemies, forcing them into Cait Sith's attack path. He uses his fiery tail to light other enemies on fire, thus turning them into mobile fireballs. He bears his teeth into a Large Body's leg, which causes it to fall. He pushes it with his front paws and watches it rolling downward and destroying many its' path.

As Red XIII's Large Body rolls by him, Kain Highwind drives his lance into the eye of a Large Armor, which brings it down without a struggle. He jumps up and plunges his lance through the top of a Morning Star's skull. He pulls it out and thrusts it into the back of an Assault Rider that is attacking Cecil Harvey. "You ok, Cecil?" Kain grunts as he yanks the lance out of his fallen foe.

"Yeah, thanks Kain," Cecil says as he slashes through the body of a Sniper. He turns and sees a Dragoon jumping, Cecil jumps and changes in a bright light to having white light armor and his long hair flowing as he has a pike in his hand and not a sword. He flies to the Dragoon and plunges his pike into the Dragoon's back. He flies over to a Gargoyle and cuts it's head off. He falls, changes back into his black armor, and uses his sword to cut a Samurai in half with an uppercut.

With Cecil changing his forms in the middle of battle, Firion changes the weapons he uses. He uses an axe to force down the claymore of the Berserker before him and cuts it's head off with a knife. He shoots an arrow into a Large Body's head as it charges at him. He grabs his sword and thrusts it under the armor of a Large Armor with little effort. "I don't think I have enough weapons for this," Firion jokes.

Even though everyone on the battle field is fighting with intensity, Sazh Katzroy has a problem of his own to deal with. It is his job to protect Sora and his friends by any means necessary. For this battle, those means are to destroy every single enemy in that hall. As he maneuvers the Highwind in the air for the most tactical position, he blasts all of the guns on his ship at the ground below, destroying what enemies he could. "Cid, I don't think this is going to be nearly as easy as we first thought," Sazh radios over.

"I know man, quit your bitching and just blast the hell outta them," Cid grunts as he pilots the Sheera to being closer to the ground so he can deliver attacks with high casualties per attack. He calls over the mike to Barret and snarls with his foul mouth, "This shit is gettin' to bein' a real pain in my ass, is there any way that you can take that hooded fucker out?" He lights a cigarette to take out his irritation.

"As you said Cid, this guy is a fucker," Barret grunts as he blasts a Samurai in it's upper torso. He turns and faces Sora, Riku, and Kari, and yells, "Can any of you get to that asshole and take him the fuck out?!"

"Riku and I can clear a path for Sora and Kairi!" Yuffie announces as she twirls her shurikens in her hands. She looks at Riku and confirms, "Can't we?"

"Yeah! We'll make them a path!" Riku grunts as he sets the Way to Dawn on his shoulder. He yells at Sora and Kairi, "I'm gonna make a path for you! You better take this guy down Sora!" Kairi and Sora nod at Riku and charge after him, as he and Yuffie rush into the battle, both destroying as many of the enemies that they can as they make their way to the stage where the hooded man resumed sitting since the arrival of Barret and the rest of the reinforcements.

Sora and Kairi make it to the front of the stage. They are surrounded by a number of Samurais and Berserkers. "Let's finish this," Kairi says as she attacks with Destiny's Embrace. Sora uses the Kingdom Key and covers her from the behind. They cut through all of their enemies, when Kairi makes it onto the stage.

As Sora takes a step onto the stage, he gets blasted backwards by the hooded man, who covers the entire stage with a giant barrier. "NO!" Sora screams as he pounds at the barrier from the outside. "KAIRI!" He looks at Kairi as fear crawls over him because the love of his life is stuck with a psychopath in a battle.

"Kairi, Sora, Kairi, Sora, oh, SHUT UP!" the hooded man mocks Sora. He summons his keyblade and gestures it in Kairi's direction, he says, "I am going to kill Kairi and I'm going to enjoy it a lot more than I should." He teleports without a trace to being right behind Kairi and whispers into her ear, "Do you know what my group calls me?"

"No, and I don't care!" Kairi screams as she slashes at him with a vicious swing. He teleports right as she attacks him.

"Oh, I think you will…" the hooded man says with malice in his voice. "I am called Number XIII: The Insanity, I am quite literally the most sadistic person you will ever be blessed with meeting, but not so much with fighting…" his voice trails as he loses his focus on the battle at hand. Kairi uses this loss of thought as an opportunity to cut him down. Right as Kairi's blade is about to decapitate Number XIII, he snaps his fingers and says, "Now I remember." He stretches his hand and catches Kairi's keyblade in his hand. "You are going to wish that you are blessed with death when I'm done with you. I don't care if you live or die, especially since my orders were to keep Sora alive, they didn't say anything about how they wanted you," he snarls as he pulls her keyblade out of her hand and throws it to the other side of the stage.

Number XIII lifts Kairi up by her throat and whispers into her ear, "I think I may fuck you, right in front of Sora, but not before I beat the shit out of you and make you cry." He throws her onto the floor and gives whoop. He looks at Sora, who is still slamming his keyblade into the barrier, trying to get inside. "Boy, you better stop…you won't be able to get in," Number XIII says as if bored by Sora. He is raises his keyblade to strike Kairi. "Say goodbye to Kairi, Sora," he swings his blade downward.

Kairi closes her eyes in anticipation of the attack. Ten seconds have passed and no attack, she opens her eyes and gasps. Right in front of her another hooded man has stopped Number XIII's attack. The new hooded man has a red chakram in his hand that he uses to block the attack.

"You?!" Number XIII proclaims with shock. "You died!" He yells as he swings the keyblade for another attack.

"No, I didn't, I was just asleep for a very long time or dead for about a week and lost for two years." the hooded man says as he blocks the other attack with a fiery style keyblade. The hooded man asks as he strikes back at Number XIII.

"This isn't over for you lot, not for a long time," Number XIII growls as Sora smashes through the barrier. He creates a portal of darkness and leaves without another word, which causes all of the remaining Heartless and Nobodies to disappear from the hall in form of black clouds.

"Kairi, are you alright?" Sora asks Kairi with concern in his voice as he hugs Kairi. He holds her against him as his body trembles with fear from losing her from her battle with Number XIII.

"A little beaten up, but I'll be fine, thanks to this man," Kairi says as she looks at the stranger.

"Thank you," Sora says with great feeling to the man.

"That's what friends are for, Kairi, Sora," the hooded man lowers his hood and this causes Sora and Kairi to gasp as they look into the red haired face of the former Organization XIII member.

* * *

**_Sora's Journal_****_  
_****Destiny Islands**

_Barret Wallace__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
The leader of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Vincent Valentine__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
The ghost of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Irvine Kinneas__  
_(Final Fantasy VIII – 1999)  
The sniper of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Snow Villers__  
_(Final Fantasy XIII – 2009)  
The brawler of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Cait Sith__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
The operator of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Red XIII__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
The beast of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Kain Highwind__  
_(Final Fantasy IV – 1991)  
The dragoon of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Cecil Harvey__  
_(Final Fantasy IV – 1991)  
The warrior of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Firion__  
_(Final Fantasy II – 1988)  
The expert of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Sazh Katzroy__  
_(Final Fantasy XIII – 2009)  
The pilot of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Cid Highwind__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
He is one of Sora's oldest Radiant Garden friends. The veteran of the Retrieval Team sent from Radiant Garden to rescue Sora and his friends.

_Number XIII_  
The Insanity. A mysterious man who has an agenda against Sora and his friends. He led the army of Heartless and Nobodies against Destiny Islands.

_'Axel'_  
The former Number VIII of Organization XIII. AKA the Flurry of Dancing Flames. He was thought to have died two years ago saving Sora, Donald, and Goofy's lives. He and Roxas were best friends during their time together in Organization XIII. He miraculously returned to save Sora and his friends again.

**Author's Note**: I apologize profusely for such a late update. I hope this chapter being long makes up for the wait. This semester has been an intense one, but it finally calmed down long enough for me to get over my writer's block. The rest of this semester is going to be very busy because of all of the papers. I will get the next chapter up by Christmas time. I recently got a copy of Kingdom Hearts 3D, so I now have more material that I intend to use in this story. For Chapter 10: Rebirth, we see the return of a beloved Kingdom Hearts character. He will reveal the upcoming threat that Number XIII is a member of.


	10. Rebirth

**Chapter 10: Rebirth**

"AXEL!?" exclaims Sora and Kairi with their Nobodies yelling within their skulls at the man in front of them.

"Close, but no cigar," the red haired man says with a smile, "Name's Lea. Got it memorized?" He says Axel's catchphrase with a smile.

"Lea?" Sora asks with confusion, "but how do you know who we are?"

"I have all of Axel's memories, I'm his somebody," Lea says, "I'll explain it all later, but right now is not a good time. That guy was a member of a new version of Organization XIII. They are a really powerful and evil group. And we're right in the midst of their plans."

"There is a new Organization XIII?" Sora shouts with surprise.

"Yeah, and they have an evil plan that involves them…" Lea starts to say when he is suddenly interrupted by Barret.

"We're getting an SOS from Radiant Garden!" Barret yells, "We need to get to get… Oh shit…An SOS is coming from Disney Castle too. We need to leave. Now!"

"Alright Barret," Sora says, he turns to his friends that are standing around the stage since all of the enemy soldiers are defeated. "Guys," Sora directs his words to the locals from Destiny Islands, "We, Kairi, Riku, and myself, are warriors for the side of light and we are the keyblades chosen ones. I don't have time to explain who or what those enemies were, but Auron has fought them before and will let you know what they are. Now, Destiny Islands is one of many worlds out there, and two of the worlds that we have other friends are in danger."

Sora directs his attention to Auron, "I need you to lead the forces here, just in case they return with stronger forces."

"Got it," Auron grunts as he repositions his sword onto his shoulder.

"Kairi, Riku, Yuffie, Lea, and I will go to Disney Castle, Barret, you take the rest of the reinforcements and head to Radiant Garden," Sora says.

Sora jumps off the stage. He gestures for Riku, Kairi, Yuffie, and Lea to follow him. The five head to Sora's house. As Sora approaches his house, he gestures for his friends to head over toward the gummi ship. His parents and little sister run outside and hug Sora.

"Mom, Dad, Fuku. I have to leave and you saw what happened at graduation. I feel this is just the beginning, a war is coming and I have to fight. I love you," Sora says to his family as he hugs them.

"Sora, we have to go!" Riku yells from the loading bay of the gummi ship.

Sora nods to Riku and says, "Bye." Without another word, he rushes to get onto the gummi ship. He looks at Riku, who's leaning onto the side of the loading bay, and he gives a curt nod and both men get onto the ship. Sora takes a deep breath and takes command. "Riku, pilot this ship and get us to Disney Castle yesterday. Yuffie, navigate. Kairi, communications. Lea, give us the intel on this new Organization." He takes the captain's seat as his friends get to their assigned locations.

Riku buckles in, turns to the back and says with a smirk, "Buckle your asses in, this is gonna be a bumpy ride." He launches the gummi ship into the air and hits the thruster and blasts onward towards Disney Castle.

"Keep it steady!" yells Sora. He turns to Lea and asks, "So, first things first, what happened to you?"

"When a Heartless and Nobody for the same person get destroyed, the person becomes whole again and they keep their memories from their time as a Nobody, because Nobodies are made from strong hearts and can operate in their own parameters," Lea says. "I noticed I wasn't Axel anymore when I saw that I don't have his green marks below my eyes." For the first time since Lea saved them, Sora's group took a good look at Lea and notice that he is right and doesn't have any eye markings that were below his eyes when he was Axel.

"Shit, that means Xehanort's back," Riku grimly remarks.

"Yes, but I don't know all the details on his return, but I hear he is a major player for the new Organization," Lea clarifies.

"Well, either way, I'm glad that you are, without a doubt, on our side this time, Lea," Sora says thankful.

"You guys are gonna need it. This Organization is far worse than the previous one. When the time comes, you will need me on your side," Lea says bitterly. "I heard that the first Organization was a cover to this one, in which they planned on turning each and every one of us into a vessel."

"A vessel for who?" Sora asks.

"Or what?" Riku adds on.

"A being of pure evil," Lea says, "but they weren't able to control us, the members of the previous Organization because we had hearts and could operate on our own."

"You had hearts?" Kairi blurts out with a shocked tone.

"Yes, Xemnas lied to us…" Lea snarls with disgust.

"Do you know anything about this new Organization?" Sora asks hopefully.

"I do. I know all thirteen members specialties," Lea says. "They are the thirteen evils: Number I – The Master is the leader of the new Organization; Number II – The Prodigy is the quickest member; Number III – The Genius is the smartest member. Number IV – The General is the best warrior. Number V – The Sorcerer is the best mage. Number VI – The Plague is the most infectious member. Number VII – The Wrath is the most destructive. Number VIII – The Reaper is the deadliest member. Number IX – The Corrupted is the stealthiest member. Number X – The Lost is the most vicious member. Number XI – The Fear is the scariest member. Number XII – The Darkness is the most powerful member. Number XIII – The Insanity is the craziest but is the strongest because of it."

"We've met Number XIII," Kairi says with a grimace.

"He meets up to his namesake, doesn't he?" Lea clarifies sadly.

"He does…" Kairi says softly. She changes the subject, "How did you come to wield a keyblade?"

"Oh this," Lea says as he summons his fiery keyblade, "It just happened when I became human."

"Nice! What is the name for it?" Sora asks.

"The Flurry of the Dancing Flames," Lea says with a laugh.

"How ironic, that it matches your…" Sora starts.

"…My Organization title. Yeah, but it told me that was the name. So I won't argue," Lea laughs.

"That is still a stupid title," a voice says from Sora's body.

"I know that voice," Lea says with a startled tone.

"You should," says Roxas as he projects himself out of Sora's body for Lea to see him. "After all I am your best friend."

"Give him some credit Roxas," a voice says from Kairi's body.

"Roxas!" Lea proclaims. "Naminé!" he continues as Naminé projects herself from Kairi. "I'm glad to see that you are both still alive," his voice turns sad as he says, "but you two are both still stuck in Sora and Kairi."

"Yes, but they've been looking very hard for a way to separate us," Roxas says to comfort his friend.

"I may know a way to free you two, but we need to get to a source of great light," Lea says with a quick finger snap.

"Really? That's good, because Disney Castle has the Cornerstone of Light," Naminé says with a giant smile.

"Alright, it's gonna be a piece of cake," Lea says with a smile as he lays down on the floor with his arms crossed behind his head.

The gummi ship continues to head towards Disney Castle at full speed, while Roxas, Lea, and Naminé fill each other in on what's happening in each other's life. Sora sits next to Kairi and holds her hand and just waits for the ship to arrive at Disney Castle. Riku and Yuffie hold hands as Riku pilots the gummi ship at top speed.

As Sora and his friends are heading to Disney Castle at full speed, two hooded figures are having a conversation in the Dark Meridian.

"Do you know where he is?" the hooded woman asks with an urgent voice.

"Yes, I have located him. But this will be useless if we don't warn them about the oncoming storm," the hooded man says grimly.

The woman passionately says, "We must warn them or else the worlds will be doomed."

* * *

_**Sora's Journal  
**_**Destiny Islands**

_Lea  
_The original form of former Organization XIII member Axel.

_Number XIII  
_The Insanity. He fits his namesake. He is a loose cannon but with the strength of a nuclear blast.

_Uzu  
_Sora's loving and caring mother. She learned about Sora's adventures two years ago.

_Fusha  
_Sora's kind and loving father. He learned about Sora's adventures two years ago.

_Fuku  
_Sora's sweet little sister. She learned about Sora's adventures two years ago.

**Author's Notes**: That brings the end of Chapter 10 and Destiny Islands (for the time being). Lea is on Sora's team and will be a key player in the war to come. In Chapter 11: A Massacre, Sora and his team arrive to Disney Castle. Which of the Organization XIII members are waiting for him? We see the return of King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, and the rest of the residents of Disney Castle. Now that finals are almost done with this semester, I will upload another chapter soon to make up for the waiting.


	11. A Massacre

**Chapter 11: A Massacre**

As Sora and his group fly to Disney Castle at top speed, King Mickey and his forces are fighting for their very lives against the invading Heartless army. The Heartless army is five hundred thousand strong and has successfully thinned out and divided the defenders of Disney Castle.

The hooded leader of the invading Heartless army is standing in the Hall of the Cornerstone with his top five Heartless commanders in front of him. "Keep King Mickey and his men away from the Cornerstone at all costs," orders Number XII – The Darkness in a dry emotionless voice.

The Heartless commanders give a curt nod and teleport to return to join in their respective battles.

"What do you want?" Number XII asks in a disgusted voice over his shoulder. He turns around to see his uninvited guest.

"Oh come on, I'm here to enjoy the show," giggles Number XIII as he walks toward Number XII from the back wall he was leaning against.

"You failed your mission, didn't you?" snarls Number XII as he grabs the front of his comrade's cloak.

"Jeez, you should lighten up. You seem emotional for a big batch of darkness," Number XIII growl in a vicious tone as he grabs Number XII's hands and starts to apply pressure on them to release himself. "I didn't fail, but there were unforeseen circumstances at play. My forces were overwhelmed and destroyed. Laguna Loire, the idiot leader of Radiant Garden, got intelligence on us and ordered for there to be a reinforcement team to extract or protect Sora. Now, I know that we expected for that to happen, but the doozy is that Lea showed up," he recites to Number XII.

"Lea?" Number XII clarifies in a surprised voice.

"Yeah, he's a player. It's a miracle that he escaped the Realm of Betwixt and Between. And to make things worse for the Organization, he's one of the keyblade's chosen ones," Number XIII says thoughtfully.

"Wait, Lea is one of the keyblade's chosen ones?" repeats Number XII. He strokes his chin and ponders out loud, "Now that is unexpected news."

"Yeah, and Sora's on his way here to stop your invasion forces." Number XIII says. "He's got Riku, Kairi, Yuffie, and Lea on his team. They're a small group, but fucking destructive, seeing as how four of the five are keyblade wielders. They intend to liberate Disney Castle," he gestures the room as he says Disney Castle.

"Damn…But thank you for the update. I better get started," Number XII says as he rolls up the sleeves and stands in front of the brilliantly glowing sphere that is the Cornerstone of Light. He tales a deep breath and starts to pulsate it with a constant flow of darkness that project from his hands.

"Well, seeing as how busy you are here, I'm just gonna chill," Number XIII shrugs. He sticks his hands in his cloak's pockets and takes a leap to the top of the room, where he finds a set of crossbeams to sit and watch his comrade at work.

As Number XIII watches Number XII at work, King Mickey Mouse is fighting in the Throne Room with the Kingdom Key D in hand. He is badly beaten and bruised, his clothes have multiple cuts through them, and he has a busted lip, but he is still able to move with great speed and agility. He constantly tries to reach to the entrance to the Hall of the Cornerstone, but the enemy forces keep blocking him from access.

Right outside of the throne room, Donald Duck, the Magician of the Royal Court, and his nephews are fighting tooth and nail with the best of their magical abilities. Huey, Dewey, and Louie have mastered their specialties over the last two years. The Royal Magi Corps may be a small force, but they are a power to be reckoned with. Donald uses the Mage's Staff, a purple staff with a blue mage hat on top, with skill and blasts a fireball down the hall. He turns around and slams a Heartless down with the staff in quick succession. He quickly quacks his orders to his skilled nephews. Huey uses his Wizard's Staff, a red staff with a ruby at the end, to use offensive magic that destroys the Heartless that are closing in on them and to prevent any from entering the throne room. Dewey uses his Magician's Staff, a blue staff with a sapphire at the end, to use stalling magic to push back the enemies and force other enemies that attempt to reach them into Huey's and Donald's attack paths. Louie uses his Shaman's Staff, a green staff with an emerald at the end, to use defensive magic to create barriers that the Heartless can't cross, stall the enemies, and to heal his uncle and brothers.

In the library, Queen Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Pluto, and Jiminy Cricket are protected from Heartless for the time being by the barrier spells that Mickey had set up in case of emergency in order to protect all of the books that had any value to the fight against dark forces. This is the second time the spells have been activated; the first time was over two years ago when Maleficent attacked. Queen Minnie is looking through spell books to locate a spell strong enough to wipe out all of the Heartless invaders. She orders for her enchanted broom servants to barricade the door, just as a precaution for if the barrier spells fail. As she is trying to find a solution for how to deal with the invasion army, Daisy recites enchantments from an old spell book to create more barriers that reinforce their defenses. Jiminy is feverishly trying to contact Sora and other allies. Pluto is lying down in his dog basket and is pining and whining at the situation.

Outside of the castle, Goofy Goof, Captain of the Royal Guard, is taking heavy casualties in the courtyard. All of the members of the Royal Guard have fallen in battle except for Goofy, his son Max, and Max's best friend P.J. They are the only three standing in the way of the Heartless from flooding into the castle. Goofy and Max are using the Knight's Shield and the Knight's Chariot, their respective weapons: a shield that has a golden trim and King Mickey's silver royal seal and a gold skateboard with a silver seal on its' bottom, to protect the entrance to the castle. P.J. is using the Knight's Arrow, a gold slingshot with silver bands and seal on its' handle, to shoot special high power and ranged magical balls from his slingshot. They are exhausted and beaten but they still stand fighting against impossible odds.

As Goofy and the rest of the Royal Guard stand their ground with every ounce of willpower, the chipmunk gummi engineers, Chip and Dale, are cowering under the control console in the command control tower. The two brothers are holding each other as they hide in fear of the occupation made by the Heartless.

"What do we do? What do we do?!" Chip exclaims in a high pitched panic.

"I don't know Chipper," Dale says in a flattened voice.

Without Dale being able to say another word, an Armored Knight Heartless slams its' bladed arm thought the command control's window. It climbs in through the hole it made. It slowly scans its' helmeted head and is about to pull out when it suddenly notices the chipmunks cowering.

As the Armored Knight raises its' arm to deliver the killing blow, it gets decapitated. Chip and Dale crawl out from under their hiding spot and they see Sora with the Kingdom Key in hand.

"Are you alright?" Sora asks to his chipmunk friends.

"We are now!" Chip cheers.

"Thanks to you!" Dale finishes.

Sora looks over his shoulder and watches as his friends clear out the hangar bay. The four other heroes effortlessly defeat the Heartless.

"All clear!" Riku announces as he cuts through the final Heartless and makes his keyblade vanish with a flick of the wrist.

"Great," Sora jumps down to group up with his friends. "Okay, we need someone to stay here in the hangar to defend the gummi ships."

"I'll stay," Yuffie volunteers.

"You sure about that?" Lea asks.

"Yeah, because I don't know my way around the castle and this place has plenty of hiding spaces for me to ambush anyone who tries to enter here," Yuffie says as she pulls out her shurikens.

"She is a great ninja. She is our best choice to have here," Riku confirms. He smiles at Yuffie as he praises her.

"Alright, I'll try to get Chip and Dale to activate some of the gummis' auto turrets to give out an extra whammy. That should help you out," Sora says. He faces the tower and yells, "Can you two do that?"

"Can do!" yells Chip.

"And will do!" Dale announces as the two chipmunks scurry at full speed to make the alterations as soon as possible.

Sora returns his attention to his group and says, "Okay, Yuffie will stay here. As for the rest of us, move out!"

Riku and Yuffie have a quiet goodbye. With a final gentle kiss, Riku joins Sora, Kairi, and Lea on their way to the courtyard. At the doorway to the courtyard, Sora takes a deep breath and looks at Riku. Riku nods and he and Sora push the doors open.

Out in the courtyard, it is filled with Heartless. Sora's group charges and attacks the Heartless horde. They slowly make their way to where the final three members of the Royal Guard are making their last stand.

"Goofy, status report!" Sora shouts as the four keyblade wielders stand between the Heartless and the Royal Guard.

"We are the only ones left of the Royal Guard; the Royal Magi Corps is inside the hallway preventing anyone from entering the library and the throne room; the Queen, Daisy, and Jiminy are barricaded in the library, but they are not in any danger; and the King is in the throne room alone," Max says in one breath because his father's out of breath and is extremely fatigued from the constant barrage.

"Shit," Sora swears in an undertone. "Alright, we need…" Sora starts to say when he is interrupted.

"I'll stay, I can cause the most damage to the Heartless out here without causing damage to the castle," Lea says as makes a wall of fire that defends their group. "I can guarantee that I can keep these three alive long enough to see another day."

"Right," is all Sora can say to the very good argument Lea made. "Goofy, I'm sorry I can't stay, but Lea will keep you safe," Sora says to his best friend of almost four years. "Riku, Kairi, we've got to help Donald and the King." The three run past Max and P.J. to the castle doors. Riku and Sora kick the doors open and they draw the attention of nearby Heartless that were about to attack the Royal Magi Corps.

Sora leads the charge through the hallway. He takes the Heartless in front of him, while Riku takes the ones on his right side and Kairi takes the ones on his left side. They make their way to where the Royal Magi Corps is holding their ground. They are able to enter the barrier that Louie made.

"Donald, how are you holding out here?" Sora asks with concern to his other best friend of almost four years.

"We're doing fine Sora, but we're running out of MP," Donald says with an exhausted voice.

"I'll stay with him while you two help the King," Kairi says. Before Sora can argue, she continues, "I can heal them and give them more MP. They'll need a healer for this battle and not a brawler like you two."

"She got you," Riku says to his childhood best friend as he pats Sora on his shoulder. "She is the best person to have out here."

"I know," Sora says bitterly. He looks into Kairi's eyes and says, "Be careful. I love you." The two share a quick yet intimate kiss.

"I love you too," Kairi says.

"Lover boy, let's go," Riku says in an urgent voice as he stands next to the entrance of the throne room. Sora nods and with there being no word said, Riku pushes the door open and the duo enter the throne room.

King Mickey is holding his own against the army quite brilliantly, but when he sees the door to the throne room open, his heart sinks as he fears the worst. He rejoices and his spirit soars as he sees that it is Riku and Sora that are fighting their way into the room. He gathers his composure and focus as this is not the time or place to let emotions overwhelm one in his predicament.

"Sorry about taking so long, Your Majesty," Sora apologizes to the great leader of Disney Castle as they fight the Heartless.

"There is no need to apologize. I know that Destiny Islands was also attacked. But Sora, I need you to go to the Hall of the Cornerstone. A member of the new Organization is down there and is trying to do something to the Cornerstone of Light. And Riku, I could sure use your help," King Mickey requests to his friends.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sora and Riku unanimously say. Riku and King Mickey generate a pillar of light that destroys all the Heartless between them and the entrance to the Hall of the Cornerstone. Sora charges down the path, without a second thought, and dives downwards into the Hall of the Cornerstone. Riku and King Mickey rush to block the entrance from Heartless following Sora.

Sora stands up after doing a roll down the stairs and tightens his grip on the Kingdom Key as he walks toward the Cornerstone of Light. As he enters the hall, he sees the hooded leader of the Heartless forces standing between him and the Cornerstone of Light with his arms crossed.

"Welcome Sora, I've been expecting you," Number XII says.

* * *

**_Sora's Journal_****_  
_****Disney Castle**

_Sora__  
_After hearing about the attack on Disney Castle, Sora took immediate action to launch a counterattack against the invading Heartless army.

_Kairi__  
_Kairi is Sora's fiancée. She went with Sora to help save Disney Castle.

_Riku__  
_Sora and Kairi's childhood best friend. He is a part of the team that is going to save Disney Castle.

_Yuffie Kisaragi__  
_(Final Fantasy VII – 1997)  
Yuffie is Riku's girlfriend. With her ninja skills, she is a great asset to Sora's team.

_Lea__  
_Lea is the someone to former Organization XIII member Axel. He is one of the keyblade's chosen ones. He retains his affinity over fire. He is one of Sora's strongest allies.

_King Mickey Mouse__  
_(Steamboat Willie – 1928)  
King Mickey Mouse is the ruler of Disney Castle. He worked with Sora and Riku in the past. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Queen Minnie Mouse__  
_(Steamboat Willie – 1928)  
Queen Minnie Mouse is the wife to King Mickey. She has experience with using magic. Her home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Donald Duck__  
_(The Wise Little Hen – 1934)  
Donald Duck is the Magician of the Royal Court and the head of the Royal Magi Corps, which he created. He traveled with Sora for two years. He is a first class mage. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Goofy Goof__  
_(Mickey's Revue – 1932)  
Goofy Goof is the Captain of the Royal Guard. He traveled with Sora for two years. He prefers to be peaceful, but he is a great warrior with his shield. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Huey__  
_(Donald's Nephews – 1938)  
Huey is Donald's red shirt wearing nephew. He is a member of the Royal Magi Corps with his brothers Dewy and Louie. He uses offensive magic. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Dewey__  
_(Donald's Nephews – 1938)  
Dewey is Donald's blue shirt wearing nephew. He is a member of the Royal Magi Corps with his brothers Huey and Louie. He uses stalling magic. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Louie__  
_(Donald's Nephews – 1938)  
Louie is Donald's green shirt wearing nephew. He is a member of the Royal Magi Corps with his brothers Huey and Dewey. He uses defensive magic. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Maximillian 'Max' Goof__  
_(Fathers Are People – 1951)  
Max is Goofy's son and a member of the Royal Guard. Like his father, he prefers to not fight, but is a capable warrior with his skateboard, which he uses as a shield like his father. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_P.J.__  
_(Goof Troop: Everything's Coming Up Goofy – 1992)  
P.J. is Pete's son and Max's best friend. He works very hard to not be viewed as his father's son, as he is a member of the Royal Guard for Disney Castle, in which his father is a sworn enemy to King Mickey. He is a capable warrior with his sling shot in hand. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Daisy Duck__  
_(Mr. Duck Steps Out – 1940)  
Daisy is Donald's one and only love. She is the maiden to Queen Minnie. She has experience with using magic. Her home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Chip__  
_(Private Pluto – 1943)  
Chip is the black nosed, higher pitched gummi engineer. He and his brother Dale help manage and maintain the gummi ships. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Dale__  
_(Private Pluto – 1943)  
Chip is the red nosed, lower pitched gummi engineer. He and his brother Chip help manage and maintain the gummi ships. His home world is under attack by Heartless for the second time.

_Pluto__  
_(The Chain Gang – 1930)  
Pluto is Mickey's loyal dog. He has a great sense of direction and led Kairi out of danger in the past.

_Jiminy Cricket__  
_(Pinocchio – 1940)  
Jiminy is the Royal Chronicler that documented Sora's past adventures. He served as a conscience to the wooden puppet boy, Pinocchio.

_Brooms__  
_(Fantasia – 1940)  
These enchanted brooms serve as servants in Disney Castle.

_Number XII__  
_AKA the Darkness. He doesn't like Number XIII and is rather emotionless. He is the leader of the army attacking Disney Castle. He is trying to corrupt the Cornerstone of Light.

_Number XIII__  
_AKA the Insanity. He fled from Destiny Islands after his forces were defeated by Sora and his friends. His personality matches his namesake. He warned Number XII about what he saw on Destiny Islands.

**Author's Note**: And so ends Chapter 11, we see Sora and his friends reinforcing the defenders of Disney Castle. In Chapter 12: The Battle of Disney Castle begins. We will learn about why Number XII is after the Cornerstone of Light. This is an early Christmas present to my readers.


	12. The Battle of Disney Castle

**Chapter 12: The Battle of Disney Castle**

"You've been expecting me?" Sora asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes, you're success at Destiny Islands reached my ears very recently," Number XII says in a pleasant and polite tone.

"Yeah right, success," Sora scoffs at his enemy's comment.

"You won, therefore it is a success," Number XII says pointedly. "I almost forgot my manners," he continues to say, "I am Number XII."

"So, you're with the Organization?" Sora clarifies with disbelief.

"Yes I am," Number XII says casually, "but before you decide to make me your enemy, I should let you know that I'm neutral. I don't care about the battle of good and evil. I'd rather stay out of any messy business."

Sora lowers his keyblade and asks, "Let's say I do believe you are a neutral party. Your name is the Darkness. Even though darkness isn't evil, Heartless are. How do you explain them being in the castle. Do you command them?"

Number XII switches his vocal tone. "Very good Sora, I am their commander. I was sent here to flood the Cornerstone with darkness, but I was unable to achieve my objective because of you and your friends showing up and poking in my business. Now I assume you will want me dead?" he states emotionlessly.

"I'm sorry, but you must be stopped," Sora says as he raises his keyblade to prepare to fight.

"I'm disappointed in you, Sora," Number XII says, "You could've been a great asset to ending this constant struggle of good and evil. For as long as there is good, there will be evil. And if there is good and evil, then there are warriors that fight for one or the other. Good and evil forces will be constantly at a constant struggle for power. They will destroy countless lives in their wake. The Organization is trying to end the unnecessary bloodshed by destroying the concept of good and evil."

"You guys are willing to kill everyone on this world, how is that preserving lives?" Sora demands.

"Few must be sacrificed for the many," Number XII says pointedly. "But I can see you won't be swayed. I am sorry, Sora, but I have to kill you now," he snaps his fingers and a giant Heartless appears. It is the shape of a giant gorilla with a crown on its head and a mace in its hand.

As Sora prepares for his fight with the Heartless boss Royal Beast, his friends are starting to purge the world of Disney Castle of Heartless.

Meanwhile, in the hangar bay, Yuffie, Chip, and Dale are working as hard as they can to keep the hangar bay free of the Heartless forces.

"Take that!" Yuffie yells as she uses her large shuriken, the Four-Point Shuriken, to combat the Heartless around the gummi ships. She uses Greased Lightning, her Break Limit ability, to rush an enemy and strike it with her shuriken. She keeps moving at high speeds around the hangar bay to prevent the Heartless from uniting and creating a formidable foe. "Chip, Dale. How are those turrets looking?" she asks into her earpiece.

"They're fully operational!" Chip announces as he manually operates a turret to focus on the Heartless that appear near the exit.

"The Heartless don't stand a chance!" Dale yells as he manually operates a turret and keeps firing around the gummi ships.

As those three keep the Heartless out of the hangar bay, the battle that is taking place in the courtyard is faring much better than before since Lea has joined in the fight with Goofy, Max, and P.J. They are making a final stand near the entrance to the castle. Lea had filled them in on how he was not Axel and he was there to help.

"Good going Maxie!" Goofy yells proudly to his son, Max. The father and son duo, Goofy and Max, are standing in front of P.J. and are beating back most of the Heartless that attempt to enter into the castle. Goofy uses his Goofy Tornado ability, in which he spins at such a high velocity that he becomes a miniature tornado. He plows through all the Heartless that get in his way.

"Thanks Dad!" Max yells as he uses his Max Slap ability, in which he uses his skateboard as a bat. When he swings and hits a Heartless, it hits another Heartless and destroys both.

"Max, dodge!" P.J. yells as he snipes with his slingshot. The white pellet flies past Max's head and hits a Heartless fifty meters away, squarely in its chest. The pellet explodes and generates a massive ice attack, destroying all Heartless within a ten meter radius of the point of impact. That white pellet was P.J.'s ability, Frostbite, in which he fires a pellet with the content of the spell Blizzard in it.

"Nice shot P.J!" Lea shouts as he uses his keyblade to cut through a Heartless. He switches his weapons and summons his twin red chakrams, the Eternal Flames. He throws both and they mow down all of the Heartless surrounding the entrance to the hangar bay. He is moving at blazing speeds to destroy all of the Heartless that aren't trying to enter the castle. When he arrived to the battle, he summoned walls of fire in front of every entrance and exit to block the Heartless from controlling the courtyard.

As the battle in the courtyard turn to the defenders of Disney Castle's advantage, the battle within the castle halls has also been to the advantage of the Disney Castle forces since Kairi has joined in on the fight. Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Kairi have all proved to be capable and effective magic users and they can keep all the Heartless invaders away from the throne room's entrance.

Donald is heading the offensive of the hallway defenders, as he stands within one end of the hallway. He screams "Fire!" as he is using his ability Donald Fire, which is his own version of the spell Fire. He manifests flames around himself and incinerates all of the Heartless forces that try to attack him and his family and Kairi.

Huey stands at the other end of the hallway as the other offensive force. He yells "Blizzard!" as he is using his ability Huey Blizzard, which is his own version of the spell Blizzard. He generates an icy bullet that flies from the end of his staff. The bullet ricochets of the walls until it finds its target and freezes the target from the inside out and devastates the area within a radius of five meters.

Dewey stands right between Donald and Huey, as he serves as back up to whoever needs it more. He shouts "Magnet" as he is using his ability Dewey Magnet, which is his own version of the spell Magnet. He creates a field of magnetism thirty feet in front of Donald and it draws all of the small Heartless that are within a twenty meter radius into the magnetic field. The magnetic field drains the energy from the Heartless and gives Donald an easy kill access with a swift attack.

Louie stands between Dewey and the entrance to the throne room, as he serves as the defender of the group. He yells "Reflect" with repetition as he produces his ability Louie Reflect, which is his own version of the spell Reflect. Louie generates a force field to surround his group, with him as its center. The field lasts five seconds and expands to a ten meter radius, which covers the door and allows for the rest of the defenders to retreat to revive their Magic Points, or MP, and stamina.

Kairi is standing between Dewey and Louie, as she is serving as a medic and as back up too. "Light!" yells Kari as she taps into the power of light and incorporates it to fight. She uses the power of light to create pillars of pure light that go down both ends of the hallway that cuts through all of the opposing Heartless forces. She runs to each member of her group and heals their injuries, as well as replenishes their MP and stamina.

As the hallways are being defended by the Royal Magi Corps and Kairi, the throne room is being purged of the Heartless forces by Riku and King Mickey. They are defeating the Heartless forces that appear in the throne room to buy Sora time, as King Mickey knows that the Cornerstone of Light is too pure and large of the power of light for a Heartless to teleport within the Hall of the Cornerstone without being instantly destroyed.

"Light!" yells King Mickey as he charges into battle with a renewed sense of strength. He uses a combination of the power of light and the power of the keyblade in quick succession. He uses the power of light to blast away all of the Heartless and he uses the keyblade to strike fast. The combination of both powers has a devastating nature on the Heartless forces that exist in the throne room.

"Dawn!" yells Riku as he fights side by side with his mentor and friend. He uses a combination of the power of dawn and the power of the keyblade in quick succession as well. He uses the power of dawn to stun the Heartless forces within his range and he uses his keyblade to hack and slash all enemies in his path. The combination of both powers decimates the Heartless forces.

While all of his friends are fighting in Disney Castle, Sora stares down Number XII and his pet, the Heartless Royal Beast. Sora takes a deep breath and raises his keyblade. "Let's end this!" Sora snarls as he charges.

* * *

_**Sora's Journal  
**_**Disney Castle**

_Royal Beast  
_The Heartless that Number XII summoned to defeat Sora as he continues his objective for the Organization at Disney Castle.

**Author's Notes**: And so ends Chapter 12. In Chapter 13: The Fight for the Cornerstone, Sora will fight the Royal Beast. Will he win? Probably. But we will see the reappearance of two beloved Kingdom Hearts characters at the end. Number XII will regret trying to take Sora and his friends in the next chapter. Another note, Number XIII will keep on showing up to major battles and not even fight. He likes to watch people die; it doesn't matter if they are good or evil. To him blood is blood, and after all he is the Insanity. I hope you enjoy this Chapter. If you all are good boys and girls (and I actually write), I will get Chapter 13 up by Christmas.


	13. The Fight for the Cornerstone

**Chapter 13: The Fight for the Cornerstone**

Sora yells a battle cry as he charges the gorilla shaped Heartless boss, Royal Beast. The Royal Beast lifts its heavy mace over its head and prepares to swing it downward with full momentum and force to crush Sora, but Sora is able to avoid the blow by diving between the Royal Beast's legs as it makes the swing. The Royal Beast notices that Sora got behind it and turns its upper body to deliver a backhand with its large arm. Sora sees the Royal Beast's arm coming after him and runs to keep behind the Royal Beast's back. He jumps on the back when the Royal Beast is unable to turn its upper body anymore.

Sora positions himself over the Royal Beast's upper part of its back, which Sora deduces is the location of its weak point. The weak point is the base of the back of the neck, or the top part of the spine, if it had the anatomy of an actual gorilla. It has several layers of armor that covers it, but with the right forces and attacks, each of the armor plates can be easily removed. Sora lifts his keyblade to strike at the weak point's armor with all of his strength and speed, as well as having great accuracy.

"He's on your back!" Number XII yells as he watches Sora prepare to finish off the Royal Beast.

The warning for Sora's attack came too late, as Sora delivers his devastating blows against the Royal Beast. Sora is able to deliver a combo against the Royal Beast, which is trying to buck Sora off by shaking violently. Sora holds onto a part of the Royal Beast's armor padding over its left shoulder with his left hand and delivers the attacks with his keyblade in his right hand.

The Royal Beast stops shaking and takes another approach to get Sora off. It swings its own mace at full force and momentum at its own back. Sora sees the Royal Beast start its swing, so he lets go of its back and drops down behind it. The Royal Beast crushes the last armor plate and its own back, by driving the plate and mace into its back, with the destructive force of its own weapon and strength. The Royal Beast collapses from having a broken back onto its stomach.

Sora climbs on top of the Royal Beast and stands over the back of its head. He faces Number XII. He says, "You'll have to do better than that to defeat me," and turns his keyblade upside down, grasps it with both hands, and plunges it with all of his possible strength and force into the back of its head. The blow destroys it instantly and the body explodes into cloud of particles with the heart floating away.

Sora lands on his feet and watches the heart float away with his keyblade resting on his shoulder. He turns his attention to Number XII. Number XII has his hand up to his face and shakes his head with shame. He says, "That damn Heartless killed itself with its own weapon. Wow. What will I tell my superiors?" He lowers his hand and addresses Sora, "You are not going to make this easy for the Organization, are you?"

As Sora and Number XII are talking and preparing to have a confrontation as they face each other, Number XIII watches the two with great interest. He is so interested in the two warriors confronting and fighting, that he crawls on his belly to the edge of the support beam that he's on just to watch the fight.

"No, I am not going to make this easy for the Organization. In fact, I intend to defeat and destroy every member. But, I am willing to give you a chance to surrender. Surrender and you won't be annihilated!" Sora demands.

Number XIII hears Sora's demand and starts to laugh hysterically. His hysterical laughter echoes throughout the entire Hall of the Cornerstone. He tries to cover his mouth but his hysterical laughter continues to echo, much to Number XII's annoyance and lack of patience for his unbalanced comrade.

"Fucking A, XIII! You are starting to really piss me off!" Number XIII bellows with anger. "Stop laughing like a fucking maniac, compose yourself, and get your crazy ass down here and help me!" Number XII orders with a snarl.

"No," Number XIII giggles.

"I swear on the Master, I am going to fucking murder you. No, I am going to torture your insane ass to being sane. Then I am going to fucking torture you back to insanity, and THEN I am going to kill you! You are supposed to be assisting me with this fucker, not just watch the fucking show. The boss will not be happy with you! He is going to fuck your world up, you fucking psycho!" explodes Number XII with a rant, as he finally snaps and loses his cool demeanor.

Sora is stunned by watching Number XII losing his temper. He regains his focus with a quick shake of his head. He realizes that this moment is the perfect opportunity to strike at Number XII and to finish him for good. He charges will full speed at Number XII with his keyblade ready to swing at Number XII. He swings the keyblade with all of his force into Number XII's stomach.

Number XII is taken by surprise by Sora's sudden attack and is forced to slide backwards by the attack blow. He is looking downward as he addresses Sora, "Sora…You've just succeeded at pissing me off more than that insane mother fucker there." He raises his arms to his side and yells, "Prepare to die at the hands of my Infinite Darkness!" He summons twin all black hook swords with razor sharp edges. He grinds his hook swords against each other with a screech and sparks flying from where the blades contact to each other just to show how sharp they are to Sora. He points them downwards at his sides.

"All right! Now, it's a show!" Number XIII hoots and hollers as he prepares for the excitement of the fight.

Sora and Number XII stare each other with clear intensity and determination. Sora tightens his grip on his keyblade in front of him. Number XII rotates his wrists and pops his neck. The tension between the two warriors build and could suffocate any bystanders that had their wits about them. After a few delicate seconds pass, Sora raises his keyblade in a swinging position. Number XII raises his hook swords, the one in his left hand is fully extended in front of his body horizontally in a defensive position and the one in his right hand is down by his side so that it is quick to strike at Sora.

A couple more seconds pass as the tension builds. The tension between the two fighters gets so thick that Number XIII comments in an annoyed and exaggerated voice, "Are you guys gonna fight or kiss, the tension is KILLING me."

This causes the tension to immediately snap as the two warriors rush at each other. Sora delivers the first strike, which is instantly parried by Number XII's sword in his left hand. Number XII counters by forcing Sora's blade downward with the sword in his left hand, trapping it with the hook, and prepares to strike with the sword in his right hand. Sora blocks the attack by slamming his left forearm into Number XII's right forearm. Sora frees his keyblade by kicking Number XII in his stomach which forces them to separate. Number XII rotates his upper body and slashes the sword in his right hand downward. Sora holds onto the blade with his left hand and uses the Guard ability, in which his keyblade absorbs the attack blow.

Sora rotates his entire body to force Number XII's sword to Sora's side and downward. Sora continues to rotate and left elbows Number XII's outer left arm, which forces his left side back. Sora swings his keyblade at Number XII's exposed upper body, but is countered by Number XII raising the sword in his left hand at the last second to block. Number XII uses his sharpened handle with the sword in his left hand to force Sora's keyblade to be extended away from Sora's body and punches at Sora's head with his right hand sword's bladed handle. Sora releases his right hand on his keyblade and spins himself under his own left arm. His back facing Number XII, but he slams his right elbow into the back of Number XII's right wrist, which isn't protected by the hook sword's handle.

Number XII's right hand is forced to punch near the keyblade's hilt. Sora uses the momentum of having the keyblade being punched to grab onto it with both hands and spin. He swings the keyblades and strikes a blow onto Number XII's left arm, breaking it with the impact. Number XII drops the hook sword in his left hand and swings diagonally at Sora with his right hand sword. Sora pulls his keyblade away from Number XII's left arm and intentionally forces it into the hook of Number XII's sword. Sora releases his right hand from the keyblade and elbows the top of Number XII's right forearm, fracturing it. Number XII lets go of his other hook sword. Sora swings his keyblade and sends the hook sword away from them.

Sora jumps away from Number XII and turns to face his defeated enemy. "I beat you and now I'm gonna finish you!" Sora says as he takes labored breaths.

"No," Number XII states, "you have just shown me that I have to actually make an effort to defeat you." He raises his broken arms into the air and says, "Let the power of Darkness flow through me." His arms become covered by the pitch black of darkness. He summons his hook swords to fly back into his hands. The darkness around Number XII spreads from his arms and covers his entire body. It radiates off him and Sora can feel it poisoning the entire area of the Hall of the Cornerstone, except for the Cornerstone of Light.

"What is this?" Sora groans as he feels the weight of the darkness on his body.

"My namesake. Don't you remember? I am Number XII of the Organization – The Darkness! I can use it to heal my wounds, increase my physical attributes, and to ultimately destroy you, Sora," Number XII says as he concentrates the darkness surrounding his body into his blades and hands. "I am going to make you pay for breaking my arms Sora by cutting off yours," he yells as he punches in the air toward Sora and a ball of darkness goes flying into Sora's direction.

Sora successfully Guards against the darkness ball. He says mentally, 'I am screwed here…'

'Sora, you were able to defeat him with ease without the power of darkness, you can beat him again,' Roxas says with confidence and determination.

'I don't know, Roxas. He was already stronger than me. All I had to my advantage was speed and that has been taken away from me,' Sora thinks as Number XII charges at him and moves with such a high speed that makes it difficult for Sora to block and defend the oncoming storm of attacks.

Sora is unable to defend against Number XII's attacks when he is hit squarely in the stomach by a darkness ball at close range. The attack blasts Sora away from Number XII by five meters. Sora collapses because of the strength of the attack and he is in severe pain. His chest feels like it is being devoured from his very body.

'Sora, you need to get up! You have to fight back!' Roxas yells.

'Sora, head to the Cornerstone!' screams a female voice in Sora's head.

'Who are you?' Sora asks in a strained mental voice as he tries to regain focus and bodily function.

'No time. Cornerstone! Now!' urges the voice.

'Ok!' Sora yells out loud as he pushes his body up. He uses his left arm to hold onto his stomach and his right hand is dragging the keyblade. He attempts to limp to the Cornerstone of Light.

Number XII follows Sora closely with his hook swords to his side. His killing intent is radiating off of his body as well as his darkness. He says, "There is no use to run away Sora. I am going to kill you."

"I am not running," Sora snarls as he forces himself to run to where the Cornerstone of Light is.

Number XII throws balls of darkness out of blind fury at Sora. None of the darkness balls make contact with Sora by sheer luck for Sora, as they head to the Cornerstone's location. Number XII blasts Sora with a well-aimed and powerful darkness ball but Sora is able to successfully Guard. Sora falls onto his back because of the power of the attack. He ends up being right next to the Cornerstone.

'Reach for it!' yells the voice.

Sora rolls onto his stomach and outstretches his right hand to touch the Cornerstone with all of his remaining strength.

Number XII swings to deliver the killing blow by slamming his hook swords into Sora's back.

"NO!" screams Roxas as he astral projects himself out of Sora. He summons his own Kingdom Key automatically to defend Sora.

Sora closes his eyes and is waiting for the attack to kill him. He hears a sudden metallic clash and turns around to see Roxas is corporeal and is blocking the killing blow from Number XII.

"Impossible!" Number XII yells when his hook swords hit Roxas' hook swords. He looks and sees that Sora's hand scraped the Cornerstone of Light. He leaps backwards away from Sora and sees his enemies.

"You alright?" Roxas asks as he helps Sora stand up.

"Never better!" Sora says with a smile.

"Let's finish this," says a third voice, which is the female that Sora heard in his head earlier.

In front of Number XII, he sees three keyblade wielders. All three have their own version of the Kingdom Key. Roxas is to Sora's left and has his keyblade in his right hand pointing at Number XII's chest. Sora has his keyblade setting in right hand on top of his shoulders. The mysterious woman is standing to Sora's right and looks a lot like Kairi but has black hair and is wearing the Organization black robe. She has her keyblade in her right hand and hanging by her side.

"Sounds good, Xion!" Roxas says with a smirk.

As the three keyblade wielders stand in front of Number XII, Number XIII comments, "Well, that's not fair…Oh, who cares?!" He giggles and summons a bag of popcorn to eat as he can't wait to see Roxas and Xion in action.

Meanwhile, in a hidden all white room located in the abandoned world of Castle Oblivion, a blond haired man wakes up from a twelve year slumber. He opens his eyes slowly and says two words.

"Terra. Aqua."

* * *

_**Sora's Journal  
**_**Disney Castle**

_Roxas  
_Roxas is Sora's Nobody and the former Number XIII of Organization XIII. AKA "The Key of Destiny". He was absorbed by Sora in order to return the memories he lost from his first adventure. He was freed when Sora touched the Cornerstone of Light.

_Xion  
_The former Number XIV of Organization XIII. She was designed to be a replica of Sora, but because of Sora's strong feelings for Kairi, Xion ended up looking like Kairi. During her time in the Organization, Xion was best friends with Roxas and Axel. She was absorbed by Roxas to stop Organization XIII's evil plan. She was forgotten by everybody until she was freed when Sora touched the Cornerstone of Light.

**Author's Notes**: What do you think of the fight scenes in Chapter 13? And is it not exciting that Roxas and Xion are back to being main characters with this story? In Chapter 14: Liberation, we will see Sora, Roxas, and Xion fight Number XII and bring an end to the Heartless invasion of Disney Castle. I'll try to get it posted within this week. One of my best friends, who also reads this story, is coming to stay me after being away for half a year. So I will either get it up either by December 20th or after December 23rd. Have a good holiday ladies and gentlemen.


	14. IMPORTANT: Author's Note

Author's Note:

To all of my loyal readers. It has come to my attention that this story is need of massive revision and is to be rewritten. I am unable to focus fully on this story as this semester has taken my full attention.


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